Weight of the World
by Kelsbury
Summary: Hermione is sent back in time by an explosion and has to live life among the Marauders. Can she get home? What if she finds love and herself along the way. Will she choose to go home?
1. 1997

_**Weight of the world**_

_I have some notes on this story, if you wouldn't mind reading them:_

_~I sent Hermione back in time a way that would happen again and again…That probably made no sense what so ever, but when you read the story it might become clearer…_

_~Dumbledore is dead and Snape did kill him, but Harry is unaware of that fact. _

_~Snape wasn't the DADA professor in their Sixth Year, but they did bring Professor Slughorn in to share Potions lessons (a bit like Trelawney and Firenze for Divination) which is why Snape is teaching Potions._

_Great! Thanks for reading that! Now, on with the story!_

_September 2__nd__ 1997_

The sun was rising on that wet, foggy day, sending rays of sunshine through the dark, moody clouds. Hermione Granger sat at the Gryffindor table, as bright eyed and bushy tailed as ever as she spread some jam onto her toast, bit into it and opened her copy of _Advanced Charms_ to read as she waited for Harry and Ron to come down to breakfast.

She didn't have long to wait and she was not disappointed as they rushed into the great hall, their hair messy and their robes creased, their bags clutched in one hand as Ron held his chest with the other, wheezing slightly. They had obviously run from Gryffindor tower to be able to make it to breakfast and Hermione was amused to see that Harry's glasses were broken.

"Err, Hermione? Could you help me out?" He gasped, handing her his glasses, looking extremely sheepish.

Hermione sighed in her usual fashion and, with a small, albeit reluctant smile, she tapped her wand on his glasses and said, "_Oculus Repairo_."

Harry grinned at her and took the now mended glasses back and placed them back on his face, his green eyes flashing with humour.

"And where have you been?" Hermione asked, folding her arms and glaring at the two boys. "You're late. There's only five minutes left till double potions with the Slytherin's."

Ron groaned from across Harry and Hermione and began heaping as much food as he could onto his plate.

"Did you have to tell us that? Bloody hell, Hermione, would it kill you to keep some things to yourself?" He asked as he shoved some food into his mouth. Hermione looked at him disgustedly before turning to Harry.

"You two had better hurry up. Snape is bound to take points from you for being even a second late." She warned them, "Would it kill you to eat with your mouth shut, Ronald?" She asked Ron, looking disgustedly at his open mouth before standing up and grabbing her things before leaving the Great Hall, ready to face the double potions that awaited her.

"What's wrong with her?" He asked, perplexed as he watched after Hermione's figure leaving them behind.

"Beats me," Harry shrugged, "Pass me the toast."

*

Hermione was sat down at the door to Potions in the dungeons, her back against the wall and knees bent towards her chest, her _Advanced Charms_ book resting on them. Her hair fell foreword as she read, covering her face, effectively blocking it from view.

"Well, lookie here. I found me a mudblood." A voice filled with venom floated towards her and she rolled her eyes before raising her head slowly, looking Draco Malfoy in the eyes.

"Well, lookie here, a twitchy little ferret." She rebuffed, putting her book away before rising to her feet, realizing that she left her bookmark out, shoving it in her pocket before taking on a defensive pose. Draco Malfoy had blushed slightly at the memory of being turned into a ferret before he composed himself.

"You really shouldn't talk in such a manner to me, I am a superior." He sneered, looking down his nose at her. Hermione scoffed.

"Oh please, spare me the useless dribble. Really, Malfoy it's getting old. You need some new material."

Draco raised an eyebrow before turning and entering the classroom, his school robes billowing behind him as if he _were_ a superior.

Hermione shook her head and turned, entering the classroom after him, sitting at hers, Harry's and Ron's usual table, awaiting for them to be late and get some house points knocked off for Gryffindor, on their very first day back after the summer holidays, which was typical and happened at the start of every year.

In about five minutes, the room had slowly filled up, chattering pupils from every house entering, usually in twos or threes. Harry and Ron were amongst the last ones in but thankfully, they weren't late.

"See Hermione, were on time!" Ron said victoriously, pointing at his watch as he took his seat next to her. "In fact, were 30 seconds early!"

"Yes, Ronald, it's nice to know that you can tell the time!" Hermione said sarcastically as she heard Harry hold back a laugh on the other side of her. Ron turned a very light shade of pink and turned away, grabbing his book from his bag and slamming in down on the table.

Just as she did so, the door to the classroom burst open and in glided Professor Snape, his black robes billowing, mirroring Draco Malfoy's previous entrance.

"Welcome back, class." The class frowned and a low murmur started up, rippling across the classroom in confusion.

"What's up with Snape?" Ron asked in a low voice, meaning only for Hermione's ears. She shrugged and watched Snape as he disappeared into the store cupboard.

Harry had a look of total paranoia on his face and he was watching Snape's every move. From his seat he would be able to see what Snape was doing and, if Hermione knew Harry (which she did) then she knew that he was processing all the information, and finding _something _to pin on him.

"As it is your last first lesson on NEWT potions, I've decided that those who are worthy of being in this class need to learn the basis of power." He sneered, looking down his nose at the class.

"There he is. Every thing is right with the world!" Harry spat sarcastically, expressing his hatred for Professor Snape.

"Now, can anyone tell me examples of potions which have elicited power?" He asked in his usual bored tone, black eyes scanning the classroom overlooking Hermione's hand which had jumped up straight into the air at the question.

"No one? How disappointing," His greasy voice filled the classroom and Hermione put her hand down in annoyance. "Today, you will all be brewing a potion that will send the drinker into a deep sleep, from which they will not awaken for several days. This will give the brewer power. Turn to page 483." And he sat down at his desk, clasping his hands in front of his chest, his elbows leaning on his desk as he looked at his class, his greasy, stringy hair falling into his soulless coal black eyes. "But I must warn you, if this potion is brewed incorrectly it could have dire consequences."

The class all froze at his words and looked shiftily at each other, trying to figure out if what he sad was the truth, or if he was just saying it to see _who_ would be able to brew the potion correctly.

"Is he being serious?" Ron asked, outraged, looking at the recipe with something akin to fear. Ron wasn't the best at potions and had only managed to get in the NEWT level class just barely.

"Looks like it," Harry informed him from Hermione's other side, and she turned to face him, her bushy hair coming undone from the hastily done plait, exploding in Ron's face.

When Ron resurfaced, he looked slightly shocked and the three looked at each other before exploding into laughter, Hermione putting her hair back the way it was.

Snape breezed by at that point, slamming his hands on the desk with force.

"At what point did I say that you insolent little brats could have fun?" His hard, cold voice making Hermione shudder as she instantly turned to the store cupboard to get the ingredients that she'd need.

*

"This is probably the hardest potion I've ever done in my life," Harry mumbled, bending foreword over his potion, watching it, waiting for it to turn a murky blue colour. Once it did he whooped and punched the air. So far so good.

Hermione looked over to see that Ron was actually doing quite well for once. He was only one step behind Hermione and one step in front of Harry. Not to bad for Ronald Weasley.

Hermione reached over to get her last few ingredients when…

BANG!

Hermione's body was thrown forewords with the force of the explosion; she cracked her head onto the desk and felt the blood trickle down her face. Harry was by her side in an instant, hands on her back, turning her over. He was yelling, yelling at _Ron? _Hermione groaned and opened her eyes to see Professor Snape yelling at Ron and Harry's face looming over hers before it all went hazy and turned to black.


	2. 1977

**Weight of the world**

**Chapter 2**

Hermione woke with a headache, her head pounding in time with her heartbeat, the blood rushing furiously through her veins.

"Ow." She slightly whimpered, bringing a hand to the back of her head as she remembered with sudden clarity the incident that led her with the headache in the first place. "Stupid Ron…He must have put in four cockroach heads instead of three…Stupid." She muttered under her breath, gingerly sitting up on the cold, hard, unforgiving floor.

_Floor? _

She opened her eyes fully, expecting to see the desks and shelf's full of ingredients that usually greeted her when she entered the potions classroom. Instead, she was met with gold cabinets with glass fronts full of strange gadgets that Hermione had only seen once before. There were portraits on the wall; each one with a different man or woman in the frame. All were sleeping. A golden bird perch was slightly to her left with a huge pile of ash on the base of the stand. She had a feeling that she knew exactly where she was, but she was to afraid to turn around and confirm her suspicions. Confusion quickly settled in as she wondered why she would be here instead of in the Hospital Wing after being potentially blown-up.

She could no longer resist the temptation and she slowly stood up, ignoring her headache and turned around.

A huge oak desk sat in the middle of the circular room, a huge throne chair sat majestically behind it. Godric Gryffindor's sword was in a glass case, mounted onto the wall, the Sorting Hat perched on the shelf below it. A huge bookcase full of leather bound books sat behind the desk and filled up that whole section of the round wall.

This was undoubtedly Professor Dumbledore's office.

But what was she doing here?

She felt something dip down her face, she moved her hand to it while looking up at the ceiling instinctively, trying to see what the substance was.

Seeing nothing on the ceiling, she looked curiously at her hand and was shocked to see the crimson blood covering her slender fingers.

"That will probably scar."

Hermione whipped around, momentarily getting dizzy. What she saw made her turn around again.

"Scars can be quite useful, you know, they tell you stories. I have one on my knee that is the perfect map of-"

"Just stop. Is this some kind of sick joke?" She asked, not turning around to meet his eyes, to see the knowing twinkle in them, the small smile on his lips as he commented on the most random things…She couldn't bring herself to do it.

"No, I'm perfectly serious. It's a perfect map. Even I was stunned at that revelation."

"This can't be happening." She whispered under her breath, burying her head in her hands, trying to figure out what to do. She hadn't read a book entitled: _What to do when you see your dead headmaster. _

"What's going on?" She asked herself.

"That, my dear, is a good question. Can I just ask; why are you in a Hogwarts school uniform? You aren't a student here and school doesn't start until tomorrow."

That caused Hermione to turn around in slight surprise and she involuntarily locked eyes with her previous headmaster and tears sprang unbidden to her eyes.

It was definitely Professor Dumbledore, but he looked slightly different to Hermione, his beard was more grey then silver and shorter then she remembered – He couldn't quite tuck it into his belt. His nose didn't look as off centre though it was still crooked – as though it had only been broken once instead of twice.

"Are you a ghost?" She couldn't help but ask, the question slipping from her lips without her permission.

Professor Dumbledore chuckled and looked at her over the top of his half moon spectacles. "I hope not." He replied.

"But---How?" She asked, completely confused, frustrated and upset with the situation that she found herself in.

"I am not dead; therefore, I'm not a ghost."

She growled in frustration and resisted the urge to stamp her foot as she wiped a tear away from her eye with the heel of her hand. She hated how the predicament was manipulating her emotions and she hated not being in control, not knowing what to do next or how to act.

Then she remembered his earlier question: _Why are you in a Hogwarts school uniform? You aren't a student here and school doesn't start until tomorrow._

"Its the 2nd September today, sir, school started yesterday." Hermione frowned, her eyebrows pinching together.

"No, I think you'll find that it's the 31st August today, school starts tomorrow." He informed her, raising his silver slightly bushy eyebrows.

"That---That cant be right!" Hermione exclaimed, "I was just in potions with Harry and Ron—"

"Maybe at your old school, but at Hogwarts we don't start school until the 1st September." He moved further into the room and sat on the chair behind his desk, He indicated that she should sit down also and he conjured up an armchair with flower upholstery for her. He leaned back in his throne of a chair and started twiddling his thumbs.

"Yes, sir, I know. I'm a student here." She told him, not taking the offered seat, instead standing stubbornly, the pounding headache increasing ten fold as she tried to sort out her problem.

"You must be mistaken. I've never seen you here…Are you a transfer student that I am unaware of?" His eye twinkled at her and she frowned slightly, knowing that look meant that the headmaster knew something that she didn't.

Now she was utterly confused. "I've been a student here for six years, professor. I'm Hermione, I was sorted into Gryffindor sir, and you came to my house on my eleventh birthday to tell me that I was a witch, my best friends are Ronald Weasley and Harry Potter—"

"Potter? Weasley?" He asked, "The last Weasley here was Arthur and he left years ago, he's now married with children and plenty more on the way. As for Mr. Potter, there is no Harry, but there is a James and forty years ago there was a Harold Potter…"

Hermione tuned out the professor as her mind processed this new information. Everything was beginning to click into place in her brilliant mind and she asked him, interrupting what Professor Dumbledore was saying about Harold and his wife having a child very late in life;

"What year is it, sir?"

He stopped his story, giving her that knowing look as his blue eyes looked her over slightly, taking in the Gryffindor crest sitting proudly on her school robes and the glint of stubbornness in her chocolate brown eyes.

Hermione was dreading his answer but was determined to look her dead headmaster in the eye as he opened his mouth and told her. "1977."

_1977? _Hermione thought frantically, _how in the world did I get here?_

"Hermione, forgive me, I may call you that, right?" He asked and she nodded tightly, collapsing into the chair previously offered. "Hermione, what's your surname?"

She clasped the bridge of her nose between her forefinger and thumb, her eyes clenched tightly shut as she tried to review the situation.

_What do I do? Do I tell him the truth? Where I'm from, will he believe me? No…I can't change the future, I can't risk making it worse and it's pretty bad as it is. Oh, Merlin, why isn't there a book on this? Oh, no, he's looking at me all expectant like, what shall I say? I can't tell him Granger, because in the future they'll be a Hermione Granger and the teachers are bound to twig on. _

"Kingsley."

_Keep it a secret, Hermione. For now, you have no real choice. I'll find a way home, back to Harry and Ron; they need me for this fight. _

Hermione chose that name for two reasons. Reason one, because of Kingsley Shacklebolt, who was her favourite auror, he was so calm and soothing and new how to make you feel better as he took control, reliving you of your duties to protect everyone as the smartest witch of her age (she has personal experience with this in her fifth year.) and Reason Two is that it's her mother's maiden name, which would hopefully make it easier for her to remember all though it would take some serious getting used to. To be fair, she told herself, she wouldn't be here long enough to become accustomed to it.

She hoped.

"So, Miss Kingsley, why are you here?" The twinkle merrily returning to his eyes.

"Err…I was in Potions class and we were brewing a special potion and my… friend Ron's potion exploded, I fell and the next thing I knew I was here with a splitting headache." _Best to tell the truth, _she thought,_ Well, a variation of it. _

"Well, we must send you back immediately!" He ordered, standing up, Hermione looked up shocked, desperately trying to think of why he couldn't do that, why he had to let her stay at Hogwarts, why he shouldn't send her back.

_You could just tell him the truth._ Her traitorous brain said, but Hermione dismissed the idea, knowing that it was out of the question, it would just mess the future up more then it already was.

"Sir, wait! You can't send me back!" She stammered, trying to think of a suitable reason.

"Why ever not?"

Hermione was hoping that he wouldn't ask that question.

"I…Err…Don't want to go back…" She knew that it was a feeble excuse, but the more that she thought about it, the more that it made sense and the better it seemed.

"Why not?" Dumbledore asked, sitting back down in his throne.

"You see, sir, I…I get bullied…"

She launched into a speech about how she was a 'victim' at her old school, how she despised going to class and hated getting up in the morning and how her studies would really benefit if she attended Hogwarts for her remaining year. He seemed to take it into consideration and after a few moments he sighed and looked into her eyes.

"Okay, Miss Kingsley, I will allow you to attend Hogwarts, but I need you to contact your old school to let them know, I'll write them a note of explanation and I need your previous grades. You can sleep here tonight and be sorted tomorrow," he decided, "Your schedule will depend on which house you are sorted into."

Hermione opened her mouth to say that she was in Gryffindor when she stopped herself, realizing that she wasn't a Gryffindor in 1977. Not yet.

"Where shall I sleep, sir?" She forced herself to ask, hoping that it was private quarters as she was in the need of a good cry.

"I think that The Hospital Wing is appropriate for the evening, don't you?" His eyes slid to the cut in her head and she nodded, pushing herself from the arm chair, which she had to admit, was very comfortable.

"Yes, sir," she whispered, blinking back her tears, swallowing, trying to compose herself.

"Follow me," She did as she was told, wringing her hands slightly. As they walked through corridors and down stairways, Hermione was ignoring Dumbledore's directions as she knew perfectly well was she was and instead, her thoughts settled on what tomorrow would bring and if she would be aware of anyone in this generation of Hogwarts.

**A/N**_**:**__ I finally updated! I just kinda dropped off the face of the Earth. Sorry, I was in a car crash and had college demanding that I finish every essay I missed while recuperating and it's just all been nonsense. But I'm back! Whoop! I hope to get the third chapter up very, very, very soon…Hope you like! Merry Christmas!_


	3. Welcome to Gryffindor!

**Weight of the world **

**Chapter three**

1st September 1977

The shrill whistle of the Scarlett train pierced the student's ears and Sirius Black turned to kiss Mrs Potter on the cheek before jumping onto the train as it made its slow descent from the train station.

"Toodle pip!" Sirius yelled out the window, waving like a madman, his body half hanging out the window as he waved goodbye to the couple that were like his parents…No, that were better then his parents.

"Padfoot, you are aware that your hair is a mess now, right?" James Potters' voice floated through the open window and Sirius ducked his head into the train immediately, grinning sheepishly at his best friend as he self-consciously patted his long black hair down.

Sirius Black was a seventh year at Hogwarts school at Witchcraft and Wizardry, and was in the noble house of Gryffindor, which he was very proud of as every single member of his family before him were Slytherin's. He had grey eyes and his black hair fell into them with a style and elegance that nobody else's could achieve. He was considered a heart throb to the girls at the school and the thought made his grin wolfishly as he walked past the compartments with the girls in, hands burrowed deep in his pockets as he let his grey eyes catch theirs, winking at them whenever he could, amused by some reactions that he got.

Beside him, his best friend swaggered, keeping his hazel eyes open for a certain red haired, green eyed muggle-born witch that he had taken a fancy to in 2nd year, despite her incessant hatred towards him. He ran his hands through his messed up black hair, messing it up even more as his other hand pushed his round glasses up his slightly long nose. Sirius was pleased to see that he was in fact, two inches taller then his best friend.

"Prongs! Padfoot!" Both boys' eyes turned in the direction of the voice coming from the end of the hallway, past all the other compartments.

Remus Lupin was the third edition to their gang and was the 'geek' of the group. The prefect of Gryffindor, everybody thought that he would be made Head Boy. It was such a shock when over the summer; James received a letter with a badge in it that read "Head Boy" in gold letters.

Remus had sandy blonde hair and gold eyes which had darkened over the years with the effort of keeping his furry little problem a secret. He was the smartest boy in the year, hell, the smartest student in the school so far and was definitely teaching material.

"But…How…Why?" Remus was pointing at the badge pinned to the lapel of James jacket, gibbering to himself. Sirius grinned and elbowed James lightly in the side.

"What's up, Moony? You seem to not be making any sense," Sirius frowned, placing his hand on Remus' forehead, only to grin again when Remus knocked it away.

"Oh come on, it's just a badge." Sirius throw himself onto a bench seat, bending his leg at the end and putting his hand behind his head, closing his eyes and letting the gentle swaying of the train carry his thoughts and cleanse his mind.

"A badge that should be mine!" Remus yelled, waving his hands above his head, "What did you do, potter? High jack the delivery owl?" Sirius scoffed and opened one eye, looking around the compartment.

"Moony, where's Wormtail?" Peter was the last member of the gang and together they were they made up the Marauders, the biggest pranksters in the history of Hogwarts since…Well, since forever.

"Oh…Err…He's…Around." Remus said weakly, plopping himself down on the seat opposite Sirius while James decided that Sirius' stomach seemed to be more comfortable then a seat and jumped on him.

Sirius grunted and rolled, knocking James off and landed on top of him, where he easy got a few punches in before James turned the table and flipped them. This wrestling game went on for a few minutes, both Sirius and James declaring that they were winning when the compartment door slid open and a boy, no older then there were with dark brown hair, beady eyes and he was quite podgy.

Peter Pettigrew stood there sporting a black eye and an angry looking jagged cut above his eyebrow.

James and Sirius sprang apart at the sight and rushed to his side along with Remus.

"What the hell happened to you?" James practically growled, his hands holding on to the top of Peter's arms.

"Nothing," he mumbled, shaking his arms to make James loosen his grip and sat down in the seat by the window, turning to look at he passing scenery, effectively shutting them out.

"Peter," Sirius slowly walked foreword and dropped into a crouch in front of the angry boy. "Was it the Slytherin's?" Ever since Lucius Malfoy left Hogwarts, the Gryffindor's had been pleased to discover that the Slytherin's more or less left them alone, but there was the odd one or two that still targeted the Gryffindor's and all of them had something bad to say about the muggle-borns.

"No," Peter shook his head, frowning when he touched the blood trickling down his head. The other three boys looked at each other and shrugged, taking their seats opposite and around the poor boy.

"Hey!" James elbowed Sirius sharply in his side, causing him to jolt in surprise and pain.

"What?" He growled through clenched teeth, rubbing his now throbbing side.

"Evans!" James shouted, jumping up from his seat and sliding the compartment door open and leaning against the doorway, shoving one hand in his pocket the other jumping up to run through his already messy black hair. Sirius smirked and stretched his legs in front of him, crossing them comfortably at the ankles eating out of a box of Bertie Botts every flavour Beans which he kept in his pocket at all times, enjoying the upcoming show.

"What is it, Potter?" Lily said wearily, her green eyes narrowing in trepidation.

"Go out with me, Evans," which wasn't a question.

Lily snorted in amusement, "Potter, the day I go out with you is the day that hell freezes over." She spat vehemently at him, her hands on his hips.

Sirius snorted a laugh but quickly covered it up as a cough. James glared at him and went towards Lily, having to bend down to whisper in her ear. Her eyes went wide and she blushed a pretty shade of pink.

Sirius looked at Remus and raised his eyebrows, who shrugged before taking his index finger and swirling it in circular motions by his temple, which Sirius quickly agreed to, nodding to show that.

"Right," Lily said which seemed to Sirius as sarcasm, but with no idea what James had said to her; he was at a loss at what to think. "Remus, we have to go to the heads compartment, McGonagall is going to run through our duties and such." She informed him, spinning on her heel to go down the corridor.

"Ha, Evans, I didn't know you were blind." James said after her, to which she turned to look at him. Sirius was having trouble determing what was happening and instead settled for watching their bleary figures through the frosted windows.

"Is that some kind of insult?" Lily practically shrieked.

What was said after that was lost to Sirius and he had no idea what they were going on about, but he could see Lily's red hair practically fizzle as it started to stand on end with the anger coursing thorough her body. She stormed into their compartment and grabbed Remus by the lapels of his jackets lifting him bodily off the chair glaring in his eyes. He gulped in fear. They had even drawn Peter's attention to them and some people had left their own compartment to peer into there's.

"Is he telling the truth? Is that badge his?" She hissed, shaking Remus in part fury, part desperation.

Sirius was really enjoying this.

Remus slowly nodded and Lily sighed angrily dropping Remus back down onto his seat. He looked dishevelled; his hair slightly windswept from the shaking and his jacket was askew on his body. He looked shocked and Sirius was trying very hard to not laugh at his friend's misfortune.

"This sucks." She said quietly, James just shrugged pretending to act nonchalant but Sirius could see the slight underlining hurt that he probably felt at her reaction.

One thing is for sure, this year is going to be amusing.

*****

They spent the rest of the train ride playing Exploding snap which Sirius had persuaded Peter to join in on and even let him win. Once.

They arrived at Hogwarts and they all spilled out onto the train station and Sirius and Peter rushed to get a carriage, Remus and James having to stay behind to help the first years to the boats.

Once James and Remus collapsed into the carriage finishing their duties, and the carriage rumbled along, being pulled by an invisible that Remus said were called Thestrals, black winged horses that could only been seen if you had seen death. Once Sirius had heard that you had to have seen death to see them, he didn't think they were cool anymore.

They spent the carriage ride talking about what most teenage boys talk about. Sport and girls.

"I'm liking Megara this year." Sirius said, pulling out his Bertie Botts Every Flavoured Beans, popping a yellow one on his mouth. Banana, not bad.

"I thought she was called Meg?" Remus said, scratching his head.

"Only to her friends," James informed her, "she expressively told Sirius to call her Megara or she would personally shove his broomstick up where the sun don't shine," he grinned.

"She's feisty." Sirius shrugged, "besides, I have yet to go out with a Gryffindor girl in our year."

Sirius was what you would call a serial dater and had been out with all types of girls, Hufflepuff's, Ravenclaw's, Gryffindor's and even a few Slytherin's, brunettes, blonde, red-heads, skinny, fat, tall, short, he'd dated them all. Which could be why he was the most desired man in Hogwarts, he loved women no matter what they looked like so all the girls thought that they had a chance.

Which, to be fair, they did.

"Meg will never go out with you," Remus said, twisting around to see if he could see Hogwarts yet.

"Sure she will, I'll get her in the end. I always do." Sirius shrugged again.

"Yeah, you have a much better chance at getting Megara then I do of getting Evans. At least she doesn't hate you." James frowned, rubbing his forehead.

"You know what you could do James?" Sirius said just as the carriage came to a stop. "Try calling her Lily." He hopped out, making his way towards the entrance of the Great Hall, straightening his tie, leaving his three friends sitting in the carriage, one of them pondering his words.

*****

"Welcome to another year at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry!" Professor Dumbledore announced once all the students were sat at the allocated tables. "The Head Girl was named Lily Evans of Gryffindor, and the Head Boy James Potter of Gryffindor!" The school burst into applause with the knowledge that a prankster was Head Boy, meaning they would get away with a lot of stuff.

"Potter got Head Boy? Unbelievable! I didn't even know he was a prefect."

"Yes! We can finally get away with snogging in the corridors after hours! He's done it enough that it would be hypocritical of him to punish us!"

"Two Gryffindor's? Dumbledore has to stop playing favourites…"

The hubbub and chatter died down and the pupils looked towards where Professor Dumbledore was still stood.

"Let the sorting commence!" He clapped his hands and the double oak doors opened and in poured the little first years who would soon be Ravenclaw's, Gryffindor's, Hufflepuff's or Slytherin's.

Professor McGonagall stood at the front of the hall and had a rickety stool placed in front of her with an old, faded hat sat on the top.

The first years all pooled around the stool and they watched in wide-eyed wonder as the brim of the hat opened us as if it was a mouth and the whole school listened to its song.

_In terror and in pain, _

_Nothing ventured nothing gained, _

_Don't take anything for granted, _

_Don't play this foolish game,_

_Be a bold and noble Gryffindor, _

_The bravest of them all,_

_Or a smart and clever Ravenclaw, _

_Always on the ball,_

_Be a hard-working Hufflepuff,_

_Who are extremely loyal,_

_Or a power Hungry Slytherin,_

_Who are unafraid of toil,_

_This year, be aware,_

_A stranger enters your midst,_

_You must unite or all of Hogwarts,_

_Will crumble from within,_

_The evil arises,_

_And vanishes like smoke,_

_Will turn even the boldest of all,_

_And this is no joke,_

_Keep on your toes and listen well,_

_Time will be unravelled, _

_And secrets revealed,_

_So head this warning,_

_And pay it attention,_

_Now on with sorting,_

_Or you'll all have detention!_

An eerie silence fell over the students as the Sorting Hats warning echoed around the Great Hall. The Marauders looked at each other in slight horror and Sirius could hear the girls chattering to each other in low urgent tones.

"Antel, Brail!" McGonagall's sharp voice penetrated everyone's mind and they reluctantly settled down.

By the time "Zantee, Katie!" was a Hufflepuff, Gryffindor had welcomed 10 new pupils into their house and everyone had been greeted with hugs and cheers and applause.

"We got a good load this year." Remus said, his eyes scanning the newly turned Gryffindor's.

"Now, before we eat our meal, I think its time for a special announcement," the students groaned and Sirius' stomach grumbled making Peter and Remus snicker. "We have a transfer student!" Sirius caught James' eye and quirked his eyebrow. "Lets Welcome Miss Hermione Kingsley."

The hall applauded and they turned their attention to the just opened Great Hall doors. Out came a girl who looked as though she was in their year; she had curly, bushy brown hair that went to just above her waist and brown eyes that reminded Sirius of milk chocolate, she had on standard issued Hogwarts plain black robes. She had a small scar on her forehead just below her hairline and Sirius wondered how she got it.

She nervously walked foreword and Sirius guessed that, if he were in her position, he would be nervous with every students eyes glued to her.

She shakily went to the stool and he saw her gulp, seemingly gathering her courage before sitting down on the stool, Professor McGonagall lowered the hat on her head and her bushy hair stopped it from slipping over her eyes.

A tense silence followed, everybody wanted to know what house the new girl would go in and Sirius really hoped it was Gryffindor, she seemed like the kind of girl that carried on fighting, afraid or not.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

The table burst into applause and cheering ensued. Hermione seemed taken aback at the welcome when the Marauder's enveloped her in a hug, welcoming her to Gryffindor.


	4. Bookmarks are very useful

**Weight of the world**

**Chapter four**

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Hermione breathed a sigh of relief and happily hopped off the stool to head to the table that was cheering, the sound welcoming, reminding her of her time, her home.

She made her way foreword and before she knew it, she was enveloped in a hug with four people, pulling her towards the still applauding table.

Sirius. James. Remus. Peter.

She suddenly felt sick and went dizzy, pleased that the four boys couldn't see her face as they huddled around her chanting: "We got the new girl! We got the new girl!" If she hadn't have felt so ill, she would be outraged by them calling her 'new girl.' Blood rushed through her veins and pounded in her ears and she felt her vision go hazy; she was thankful when she was pushed into a seat, meaning that her dizziness washed away.

The pounding in her ears died down and she was aware of chatter all around her, laughter, explosions, sound of knives and forks on plates and goblets hitting the long hard wooden table. Her vision returned to normal and across from her was Harry.

Her breath caught in her chest and she stared at James, seeing Harry. She tried to stop the tears and she turned her head, seeing who else was around her. Next to James was Remus and she felt herself smile lightly; he looked up from his plate and returned her smile, nodding in her direction. At least she knew somebody in this year, no matter how little she actually knew him.

"Don't I get a cute smile?" She whipped her head around to see Sirius sat next to her and she was very aware of how good he looked. She remembered the waxy textured look his skin had taken on and how lifeless his grey eyes had been when she'd first met him, his black hair stringy and lay in clumps about his head. Now, it was long and silky, his grey eyes held mirth and life, his skin smooth and lean, covering a tight web of muscles that he possessed, his lips pulled up into a smile that she had only seen on him when Harry had done or said something that reminded him of James.

Her heart stopped, she was sure of it, when she realized what was going to happen. What she couldn't stop.

On her other side was a girl with fiery red hair and the greenest eyes that Hermione had only seen on one other person, her son. She could hear Lily talking a mile a minute to the brunette girl next to her, who saw Hermione looking and winked, smiling before going back to her conversation with Lily. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath and slowly opened her eyes to see Peter sat on Remus' other side, staring right her. Hate welled up inside her and she had to fight to not lunge across the table and hex him into oblivion. The fact that she was thinking such things scared her and she opted to not look at anyone and looked down at her plate, which she noticed was filled with food.

This is not going to be good.

*****

Sirius was shocked when the new girl looked at him, her eyes holding what he could only describe as despair and he frowned, not knowing why he cared. He shrugged to himself and decided that he didn't but he couldn't help watch the reaction when she saw Peter. Hate filled her gaze and he was sure that she was seeing red. Peter, too, saw the hate and quickly averted his gaze.

"Yo, Siri!" Sirius looked James' way to see the smug grin on his face, his eyebrows heading towards his hairline.

"What, Jamie?" Sirius asked, stabbing his roast beef with his fork.

"Look at poor snivellus, all by himself," Sirius looked over to see that Snape was indeed sat by himself. Next to him, Hermione's head jerked up, her eyes also seeking Snape. He was sure that she paled when her eyes landed on him and Sirius frowned again. This girl was going to give him worry lines.

"What do you suggest, Jamie?" Sirius grinned wickedly and he saw Hermione turn to see him, frowning.

"You're not going to prank him, are you?" She said, seemingly surprised that she herself had said that.

"What of it?" Sirius asked, slightly annoyed that she asked that, as if she knew what they were planning.

"It's slightly…barbaric, don't you think?" A minute ago she would barely look at any of them, now she thinks that she can tell them what to do? He felt himself bristle and opened his mouth to retort but she got there first.

"I-I'm sorry, I don't—What I mean is, I shouldn't tell you what to do. I don't know you to do that." He felt himself soften and his hand went out to her shoulder, and she jerked, but he didn't know if it was because she wasn't expecting his touch or he had hit a bruise or something. He firmly grabbed her shoulder, his thumb tracing circles on her collarbone.

"Don't worry about it." She smiled at him and he felt himself smile back.

Maybe this girl wouldn't be so bad, if the electric feeling flowing through his veins was any indication of that.

"Introductions!" He exclaimed loudly, throwing his arm around Hermione and pulling her into his side, the feeling of her pressed up against him very delicious indeed. He felt himself smirk and pointed at James. "That's James. He's a bit of ponce."

"Hey!" He said indignantly, throwing a piece of his bread at Sirius, who skilfully dodged it.

"That's Remus, he's a geek," Remus stuck his tongue out and crossed his eyes, making Hermione giggle. "And that, that is Peter. He's the worrywart." Peter glared; narrowing his eyes before turning his gaze to Hermione who's smiled seemed forced. "And I, I am Prince Sirius Black the first of the noble house of Gryffindor!" He let go of her shoulder and jumped from the bench seat, bowing low at the waist, his grey eyes locked on hers. She blushed and looked away quickly, her hair whipping around her head, nearly getting him in the eye. He laughed to himself and sat back down, having drawn a lot of attention to himself, he smiled and waved.

"I'll be here all week, your prince lives to please." He winked at Megara, who was in an animated conversation with Lily and she scoffed lightly.

*****

"Come on Sirius, leave the poor girl alone." The brunette said, leaning on her forearm across Lily to look at Hermione. "I'm Megara, but my friends call me Meg." She held out her hand and Hermione hesitantly shook it, trying to place the name in her memory with anyone in the Order of Phoenix or mentioned in passing between Remus and Sirius, but she couldn't do it. Perhaps this girl is alive in her time, striving to survive like Hermione herself was, she could be one of her classmates mother or she could be dead. The harsh realisation made her gulp and she let go of Meg's hand, who didn't seem offended in the least. "Okay, so you met the Hooligans of Gryffindor, now its time to meet the coolest people you'll ever know."

Behind her, she heard Sirius grunt in humour and she looked out the corner at him to see him taking a swig of Pumpkin Juice, she couldn't help herself and her elbow lightly knocked his arm, causing the drink to spill and go all over him, tiny droplets rolling down his face. The people around her burst into laughter and Megara (she didn't feel comfortable calling her Meg yet) reached around Lily to clasp her shoulder, much like Sirius had done had earlier.

"You'll fit in here all right," Megara nodded, before wiping away tears of mirth from her blue eyes and turned her attention to a girl with short dyed orange hair and olive coloured skin. "That there's Thomasina, but if you call her that she gets a bit miffed. Best to call her Thoma." It was pronounced like Tom-A and she could tell just by looking at her that she was an individual, under her robes she wore bright yellow jeans and a bright blue top with a bright pink headband in her hair and green earrings, she was herself no matter what people said or did. "This lovely girl here is Lily, and seeing as she's head girl and has her own room, I'm guessing that you'll have her old bed." Lily smiled and cocked her head to the side and Hermione was aware of why James fancied her, she really was very pretty. "That over there is Kara," the girl on the opposite side of Thoma looked up and smiled, her thick, black hair falling over her shoulder, creating a waterfall effect, her jazzy green glasses doing nothing to hide the dark brown eyes underneath. "And the blonde girl, she's Rayne. She's probably the best singer you'll ever hear in the world!" Megara informed her, turning to talk to the girl with blonde hair beside her. Rayne leaned foreword on the table, resting on her forearms to get a good look at Hermione and for a second, with her long, unruly, curly blonde hair and bright, hooded blue eyes, Hermione thought that she was looking at Luna; all that was missing was the radish earring, corkscrew necklace and Ravenclaw robes.

"Heya, I'm Rayne," her voice shocked Hermione, who was expecting a dreamy, floaty, head-in-the-clouds voice, instead heard a down-to-Earth, real voice.

"Yeah, the 'coolest'," Hermione was painfully reminded of the Marauders when she heard Sirius' sarcastic voice, taunting Megara for a rebuttal.

"You left me out!" An indignant cry could be heard and Hermione turned to see a plain girl with mid-length feathered brown hair and dark green eyes stood there, wearing Ravenclaw robes over pale blue jeans and a dark blue jumper. She grinned and slid between Kara and Thoma, flashing a toothy grin at the Marauders. Sirius nodded his head and James waved, while Remus blushed and looked down, suddenly very interested in the treacle tart in front of him.

"Oh yeah, this is Olivia. She likes to follow us around." Megara said, although the words were slightly harsh, her tone of voice implied that she didn't mean it, and the smile she flashed the girl proved Hermione's thoughts.

"Hello," she said shyly. This girl she knew, she remembered Sirius in 1995 telling Harry about her; she was tortured and killed just before the end of her final year, leaving behind her fiancée Morgan, who in his desperation, anger and sadness, joined the Dark Side, working from within to bring the corrupt side down. Sadly, just before Harry was born, he was discovered and killed, but refused to tell Lord Voldemort where to find any of the Order of the Phoenix.

And she could do nothing about it.

"Heya, babes. Listen, don't let old Siri here lead you down the wrong path, they are bad news." Hermione frowned and looked at Sirius who was looking at Olivia with something akin to affection in his steel grey eyes and one corner of his mouth slid up in a crooked smile.

"Are you talking from personal experience?" Hermione couldn't help but ask and when Thoma started laughing, she grew puzzled and her puzzlement only grew when she felt Sirius shift in the seat next to her.

"I am indeed," Thoma started laughing more and Olivia sighed and rolled her eyes before standing up and pushing herself from the table. "I'll see you nutter's tomorrow. Hey, Hermione, catch you later." And with a wave, she was heading back to the Ravenclaw table just as Professor Flitwick shouted across the room (using the _Sonorus_ charm, of course,): "Eat at your own tables, please Miss Winchester!"

"Err…What was that about?" Hermione asked, scooping a large dollop of chocolate ice-cream into her bowl, at this moment she didn't care if it all went to her hips – as Lavender and Parvarti often told her – She found that she was in a situation that required junk food.

"Olivia and Sirius dated for like, a whole year in fifth year." Thoma informed her, scooping her own ice-cream, although she opted for Strawberry.

"Such a clever girl," Megara sighed, rubbing her forehead, "I don't know what possessed her to date this imbecile." Sirius stuck his tongue out at her and Meg quirked her eyebrow. Hermione was staring at Sirius in shock – she had never thought that Sirius might have someone like James and Lily had each other, could Sirius have had a girlfriend or fiancée when this whole catastrophe happened? If so, was she still alive? Or was she also killed in the crusade to save the Wizarding world?

Hermione decided that she didn't want to know the answers to these questions and she would much rather just keep her head down until she figured out her way back home, but first she had to get those stupid papers for Dumbledore, although she figured that they would be easy to forge.

_Tell him, Hermione! It's Dumbledore, the greatest wizard of the century! He can help you!_ Hermione ignored her own advice, but promised herself she would take it into consideration.

"Hermione!" Hermione was jolted out of her thoughts when Sirius placed his hand on the top of her head, getting her attention. She turned to look up at him and smiled sheepishly when she realized that everyone was making their way towards the entrance of the Great Hall.

"Herm! Come on, keep up girl!" Thoma appeared by her side and pulled her up, grabbing a hold of her hand and pulling her down the aisle between Gryffindor's and Ravenclaw's tables, practically skipping while Hermione picked up her pace to catch up. She turned her head to get a glance at Sirius behind her, but he was talking to James whose eyes were locked on Lily's back, who was just in front of her and Thoma.

"Right, now a word of caution, you will get lost," Rayne said, appearing at Hermione's side, her eyes narrowed slightly. "God knows, I did so many times." Rayne laughed quietly and slid between a Hufflepuff and a Slytherin, making sure to give the Slytherin girl a good knock with her shoulder. Even now, the Slytherin, Gryffindor hatred is in effect.

"Never trust Slytherin's" Kara said, witnessing what Rayne had done, "They're prejudiced and sly." Kara practically sneered, her eyes following the Slytherin's as they went down a staircase, heading for the dungeons.

"Why are they going down there?" Hermione forced herself to ask, annoyed at the fact that she had to ask questions that she knew the answers to.

"Cause their dormitory's down there." Kara supplied, getting a lollypop from the pocket of her robes.

"Do we sleep in our houses too? I thought that was just lessons." She lied, hoping they didn't catch on.

"Oh, yeah. It's alright though, the guys can't get up to our rooms, were fine, if that's what you're worried about," Megara said from just behind them. Hermione realised that Thoma still had a hold of her hand.

"I thought we were seeing you tomorrow? Not ten minutes later!" Thoma shouted looking up towards the staircase above them. Hermione followed her eyesight and saw Olivia turning and leaning over the banister just as it moved, throwing her balance off centre. A tall boy, with high cheekbones, dark skin, brown eyes and long eyelashes stood behind her, his arms wrapped tightly around her waist, stopping her foreword momentum. She turned her head and placed a kiss on his cheek before looking back over the side.

"That's because you're stalking me Eastwood!" She saw her dark green eyes dart about, settling on each and every seventh year Gryffindor on the stairs and Hermione realized that the Marauders had joined them when he heard James shout:

"You wish!"

Olivia laughed and took the guy behind her by the hand, continuing up the stairs as it stopped moving; now they had more light in the stairwells, she could see that Olivia had gold highlights in her brown hair.

The Gryffindor's carried on, Hermione taking care to make sure that she didn't move in front of the group, like she was used to doing with Harry and Ron, who great delight in dawdling to annoy her.

They arrived at the portrait of the Fat Lady, who was chatting with her friend Violet, who Hermione knew from her own time.

"Password?" The fat lady asked through giggles.

"Slug Club," Lily said, brushing her red hair from her face. The portrait swung open and the friends traipsed in, splitting to go to their respected dorms, The Marauders departing with a cheery "Goodnight."

Hermione followed the other five girls up the stairs but Lily peeled away to go to her own private quarters.

Meg opened the door and Hermione was greeted with a her old dorm room with five beds in it, five trunks settled at the foot of the beds, (hers given to her by Dumbledore, she had asked him this morning if she could go shopping somewhere for school supplies, but he smiled and said there was no need as he had already taken the liberty of giving her some,) a white, fluffy cat curled up on a bed and a lizard sat on the desk to the far wall. Hermione nervously looked at it and Kara laughed, going to pick it up.

"It's okay, Super hero won't hurt you, he's to shy," Kara said, pressing the cheek of the lizard to her own cheek, nuzzling it slightly before plopping herself on the bed nearest the desk.

"Err…Which one's mine?" Hermione asked, hoping it was the one furthest away from the lizard.

"This one," Rayne said, pointing to the bed next to Kara's, but thankfully there was a big gap between the beds as that's where the door was.

Hermione walked over to the bed and pulled at her trunk, opening it and she relaxed at the sight of the Gryffindor gold and red striped scarfs and her Gryffindor robes which she had arrived in, but Professor Dumbledore had yet to comment on.

She smiled and pulled them out; grabbing the shoulders she flicked it up in the air, creating a ripple effect on the robes. A piece of paper fell from the pocket and frowning, Hermione crouched down picking it up. When she turned around she squealed in delight.

In her hand was her bookmark, that she put in her pocket after being interrupted by Malfoy that morning before potions; (_Putting her book away before rising to her feet, realizing that she left her bookmark out, shoving it in her pocket before taking on a defensive pose._) It was good luck that her bookmark was her results from O.W.L's, she was so proud of her results that she kept it, using it as her bookmark, she also used the letter she received when she was eleven to tell her that she was a witch and the first letters that Ron and Harry had sent her.

That was one problem solved, Hermione sighed, placing the results gently on her little bedside table and folded her robes back up, placing them carefully in the trunk.

"Come on, Hermione," Megara called, gesturing for her to come closer to what was, in her time, the cupboard. "I've got something to show you."

She saw Rayne roll her eyes as she collapsed on the bed opposite Kara's and Thoma rolled in the bed opposite her own, which the fluffy white cat was laid on.

"Brace yourself," Megara warned, her hand closing around the door handle, Hermione felt her muscles tighten and her hand instantly went to her wand, tucked in her robe pocket, which were still the plain issued Hogwarts robes.

Megara slowly turned the handle and Hermione didn't have time to think as she was tackled to the floor, a furry, golden fluff ball crawling in her chest and licking her face with its soft, lolling tongue.

Hermione tried to get Megara to get the dog off, but she was laughing to much as the puppy's paws were tickling her ribs.

Megara took pity on her and pulled the dog back by its collar, picking it up and holding it much like a baby while Kara reached down to give Hermione a hand and pulled her up. Hermione wiped her face with the sleeve of her robe and gazed at the Golden retriever puppy in Megara's arms.

"Isn't he cute?" Megara cooed, touching the dogs nose with the tip of her finger before nuzzling her own nose against the dogs. "He's called Charlie," Megara stated proudly, putting it back in what was indeed the closet.

"Does Professor Dumbledore know that you have that dog?" Hermione asked, slightly breathless.

"Yeah, but he said to keep it in here," Megara informed her moving to her own bed, which was between Rayne's and Thoma's, opposite the door. Hermione was slightly shocked; she had never seen a dog at Hogwarts, except for Sirius when he was at Hogwarts looking for Harry.

She slowly made her way back to her bed and watched as Megara got dog food from under her bed and disappeared into the closet.

"She gets a little protective of her pets, you'll find," Hermione turned to see Thoma looking at her through her fringe, "we all are, well, except Rayne who doesn't have a pet,"

"That's because I don't like animals. Hermione, my idea of a pet is a rock." Hermione laughed and Rayne cracked a smile.

Hermione quickly changed into her new pyjama's and snuggled into her bed. Just as the lights went out and Hermione turned on her side to look out the window, she heard Megara's voice from across the room: "Don't think your getting away from interrogation. We're saving that conversation for the morning," Hermione groaned and put the pillow over her head, two thoughts running through her mind, one was that she was dreading the morning and her second thought: What was she gonna use as a bookmark?

**A/N:** _Shout out to all my friends, who Rayne, Thoma, Megara, Olivia and Kara are named after and based on. Oh, and Morgan, who we have seen just not named yet…If that made sense…Anyways, Merry Christmas! Hope you all had a good day! XxX_


	5. Early Mornings can result in nakedness

**Weight of the world**

**Chapter five**

Hermione slowly opened her eyes, the sunlight pouring through the window blinding her. She slowly turned over, expecting to see Lavender snoozing in the bed next to hers with her eye mask on and Parvarti in the bed opposite Lavender, snoring lightly snuggling her pillow.

Instead, she saw four girls, all still asleep, hair a mess and Thoma, in the bed opposite her was snoring loudly, and her fluffy white cat was purring so loudly it was driving Hermione crazy.

She groaned lightly, not liking the start of this day and she hadn't even woken up properly yet.

She reached across to her bedside table and grabbed her watch from the surface, turning the face towards her and squinting to make sense of the time.

She sat bolt up right in bed and threw the covers off, jumping out of bed, wincing slightly at the cold feel of the floor just as the door to the dorm slammed open. Hermione looked that way, not used to being woken up in this manner when in waltzed Lily, her robes on, hair done, make-up on. She stood in the middle of the room and crossed her arms and tapped her foot, looking quite annoyed, but when she saw Hermione was awake she smiled and moved to let Hermione go to the bathroom so she could shower. Hermione smiled her thanks and grabbed her school uniform, making her way past Lily, snickering slightly at the wake-up call the other four girls were going to get.

As soon as she closed the door to the bathroom, she heard a mini explosion and four identical shouts of shock and anger. She shook her head and ran the water, putting toothpaste on her toothbrush; she started to get cleaned for the day.

*****

Sirius woke to a rustling noise in his sheets and he groaned, grabbing the pillow and burying his head under it, hoping that it succeed in making the noise _go away!_

"Wakey, wakey, Siri!" James called in a sing-song voice, which Sirius chose to ignore and burrowed deeper into the nice, warm blankets.

It was quiet and he was just starting to go back to sleep, back to where the dreams lived, where he could be a pirate or fly without the aid of a broom or be a grasshopper (he had had this dream before), when he heard it.

_Rustle, rustle, rustle._

He growled low in his throat and sprang from the bed and with a war cry, jumped on James, who was the one making the sheets rustle using a spell which he had heard Snape perform to distract Peeves.

James was shocked and when Sirius landed on him, he wasn't ready for it and Sirius easily had him pinned down.

"Why are you waking me up at…" he turned to look at the clock on the wall, not loosening his grip on James, "6:45?!" He cried in outrage, "What in the name of Merlin's baggiest Y fronts are you doing? It's too early to be awake?" He yelled, "You don't even live here anymore dude!" Sirius threw his hands up in annoyance and clambered off James, stretching and yawning, rubbing the back of his head, messing his hair up even more.

"Dude, you have bad morning breath." Sirius raised his eyebrows and scoffed, getting his school uniform and sauntering past James, heading for the bathroom, in need of a shower to wake him up fully.

When he got in there, he heard a shower already running and he instinctively closed his eyes, despite the fact that they were stalls and blindly made his way to the circular sinks, grabbing his toothbrush and proceeding to clean his teeth with it, hoping to get rid of the morning breath that James had mentioned earlier.

The shower shut off and by the cough that followed, Sirius knew that it was Remus. He grinned wickedly as a thought entered his mind and a prank was slowly forming itself in his mind.

He transformed into a dog and softly padded to the shower stall, sniffing lightly. He heard Remus open the stall door and ducked into the nearest stall, hoping that he hadn't been spotted. Remus just carried on walking and he went past Sirius' stall, wearing a towel around his mouth. Sirius snarled a little in distaste and crept slowly out the stall, his eyes set on Remus. When Remus crouched down to his bag, Sirius leapt on his haunches and barked, deep and low in his throat; Remus was shocked and he listed to the side, a cry of shock escaping his lips. Sirius transformed back and could hardly stand up straight because he was laughing so much. James burst in, wand at the ready but when he saw it was just his friends he rolled his eyes and walked back out, messing up his hair even more then it already was.

"Dude, that was cruel," Remus stated, holding a hand over his heart and gasping, trying to get his heart back to the right speed.

"Ah, you're just a wimp," Sirius said sauntering back off to the showers, shredding his clothes as he went, leaving a trail to his shower.

He really should have seen what was coming.

*****

The hot water on her muscles was very soothing to Hermione, who hadn't had a shower since the day before she arrived here and she was starting to feel grotty and disgusting. She soaped up and let her thoughts wander to the conversation that was going to happen this morning.

She found that she quite liked these four girls, more then she did Parvarti and Lavender, although she had nothing against them, they didn't try to include her and in her first year, made her feel more like an outcast then she cared to admit.

But these girls…There friendship was so close already and they were willing to let Hermione join their tight circle, despite not knowing her at all.

Hermione sighed and ducked her head under the spray, letting the water run into her ears and temporarily deafen her as again; her thoughts went on a rampage.

Because she couldn't hear, she failed to hear the bathroom door bang open and jumped quite bad when Megara banged on her bathroom stall door.

"Come on, Hermione!" You've been in there for ages!" Megara informed her, going to a shower stall towards the other end of the room. Hermione sighed and shut off the water, getting her towel from the towel rack and drying the droplets of water from her face.

"How did Lily wake you up?" Hermione called out, wrapping the towel around herself as she heard Meg's shower turn on.

"Urgh, a firework, crafty magic that is," Megara called over the noise of the shower.

Hermione smiled, aware that Lily had been a brilliant student back when she was at school, Professor Slughorn often had fun telling Harry about his parents, which he absolutely loved at first, he was now sick of hearing the same story again and again.

Hermione shook her dress and quickly got dressed and brushed her hair before leaving the bathroom going back to the bedroom where lily was lounging on Hermione's bed, flipping through a magazine.

When she got nearer, Lily jumped up and hid the magazine behind her back, "sorry," she said, "force of habit," she shrugged. Hermione smiled and assured her that it was fine. She looked around and saw the bottom half of Thoma under the bed wiggling around, seemingly trying to find something.

She looked inquisitively at Lily who grinned and help up a black ballet pump and threw it on top of Thoma's bed.

"Thoma, what you looking for?" Lily asked, straining to hear Thoma's muffled response of: "my shoe!"

"Your shoe?" Lily asked, dropping herself down in Thoma's bed. "You mean, the black pallet pump that's on top of your bed?"

They heard a thump and Thoma emerged from under the bed, slightly dusty and rubbing her head. She dived for the shoe and shoved it happily onto her foot; looking pleased with herself she grabbed her bag and threw it over her shoulder, heading for the door.

"Come on, you two! You're gonna be late! Rayne and Kara are already down there." Lily and Hermione looked at each other and they grabbed their respective bags, heading down the staircase towards breakfast.

As soon as Hermione sat down at Gryffindor's table, she knew that she was in for some serious interrogation and she mentally sent a quick prayer up to God, hoping that they'd go somewhat easy on her.

"Why are you here?" They don't waste any time do they? She mentally told herself, picking up a piece of toast and buttering it.

"Because I'm hungry," she replied, taking a bite of the toast and Rayne rolled her eyes and smiled lightly before leaning on the table to look right in Hermione's eyes.

"Why are you at Hogwarts?" Ahh, now they're being more specific.

"Because at my last school, I was bullied, mentally tortured, psychically tortured some times and it sucked. So I had a word with Professor Dumbledore and he allowed me to continue my education here." She said this very fast and she didn't look at any of the girls seated around her and she hoped that they just thought that it was because she was embarrassed about her situation.

"Oh," Rayne said, leaning back to sit in her seat properly.

"That must have been awful," Lily said soothingly, placing her hand on the top of her back, between her shoulder blades, like Harry used to do when she was stressed or about to break down in tears. Her muscles tensed up involuntarily and Lily seemed to notice as she moved her hand and reached across the table for a banana.

Laughter filled the Great Hall and Hermione looked up to James and Remus enter the hall, almost falling with the force of their laughter, tears where rolling down Remus' face and James had doubled up, holding onto his side.

"This is not good," Thoma said form her seat next to Lily.

"Where's Meg?" Kara asked, standing up, looking down the table, "why is Peter here by himself?" Hermione looked down the table and saw Peter was indeed by himself, his beady, watery eyes darting back and forth between James and Remus and the Slytherin table.

In fact, everybody's eye were darting between the laughing Marauders and the Slytherin table, and the Slytherin's looked weary and most had pushed their food away, looking at it in trepidation.

James collapsed into the seat next to her and Hermione jumped, not noticing that they had even moved. Remus went and sat next to Peter, whispering in his eyes and Hermione saw a grin break out on Peter's face and an uneasy feeling spread through her body, tightening the muscles in her stomach…It was the same feeling she got when she saw Fred, George and Lee plot or talk very much like they were doing.

"Hermione, you put to much butter on toast," Hermione looked at James who was holding a piece of toast and rubbing the tip of his tongue along the roof of his mouth desperately, seemingly trying to get rid of the butter. He looked disgusted and placed the toast with a bit out of it back on her plate, his tongue still moving in his mouth, making both Hermione and Rayne snicker.

"What's so funny, Potter?" Lily asked, leaning foreword to glare at him, annoyance in her green eyes.

"Oh, you'll see, Lily," Hermione raised her eyebrow and was slightly stunned when Lily didn't have anything to say, just stared at James like she'd never seen him before. James paid no attention and buttered his own with the smallest amount of butter Hermione had ever seen been put on toast.

A scream sounded across from the Hufflepuff table and Hermione's head jerked up, her hand automatically jumping to her wand as she sprung to her feet. A girl was stood up on the bench seat, a hand on her open mouth and gasps could be heard, rippling through the hall.

Hermione turned to see what the matter was when Sirius Black breezed past her.

In only his boxers.

Hermione stood, shocked, unmoving as she mentally processed the image before blushing furiously and slowly sitting back down, beside her James was laughing again and she saw that Sirius had taken a seat next to Rayne, who looked him up and down and grinned, grabbing the strawberries.

Hermione found her eyes automatically going to Sirius exposed torso and she looked away quickly having caught a glimpse of the muscles he held, under his tight web of skin. When he moved his body, his muscles pulsed and rippled under his skin and she found herself get hot and she refused to look at him. James was laughing even louder.

"My God, Sirius, I know you're desperate but can't you find some other way to attract girls instead of walking around half-naked?" Kara asked, her hands in front of her glasses, shielding her sight of the half naked Sirius.

Hermione found that her eyes were being pulled to his torso and her eyes travelled his body without her permission. She pulled her gaze away and stared down at her porridge, the blush now going to the tips of her ears.

*****

"I'm not doing it intentionally," Sirius said, indignantly, his grey eyes fixed on Hermione's face, pleased that he got that reaction out of her, watching the blush travel down her neck.

"Mr. Black!" Professor McGonagall appeared by his side, her shrill voice permitting his ears and he turned his head, smiling at the head of Gryffindor house.

"Yes, Minnie?"

McGonagall raised her eyebrows and frowned, her lips pinching together in displeasure.

"Care to tell me why you are not wearing the proper school attire?" With her eyebrow raised and her arms crossed, she conveyed the aura of somebody that should not be messed with.

"You see, Remus here thought it would be funny to take every single piece of clothing, except for thee boxers and a lone orange sock, which I'm currently wearing," Sirius put his foot on the table, wiggling his toes in the sock wrapped around his foot which was indeed, bright orange. "Instead of going hungry and missing lessons, I decided that it's best to shoulder on and come to the Great Hall for something to eat." And he popped a chocolate chip in his mouth from the chocolate muffin he was eating.

"Argh! My eyes!" James burst into laughter opposite him and he leaned to the side to see Megara stood there, a look of confusion, horror and amusement plastered on her face.

"What? What's wrong with your eyes? I think they're a lovely shade of blue," a voice accompanied her and he saw Olivia appear behind her, an inquisitive look on her face and he was just about to catch her eye when Morgan appeared at her side, his large hand hiding her dark green eyes from view. "I'm confused," her small voice said and Morgan shushed her, sending a grin Sirius' way before leading Olivia out of the Great Hall, where he could hear her complaining about no food and Morgan's deep, soothing voice telling her that he had a muffin in his pocket for her.

Sirius sighed and looked away, confused at the feelings he felt rise up inside him. He and Olivia had broken up at the beginning of sixth year and he was slightly hurt that she had managed to move on so easily, hooking up with Morgan in January of that year while it took him till at least April to even contemplate girls again.

His eyes looked at Hermione again, who was trying very, very hard to not look his way and the feeling in his stomach, like liquid hot lava intensified heightening his nerves and he grinned. Maybe he shouldn't be chasing Megara; this new girl may be the one that he wanted after all.


	6. French Vanilla and Coconut are gross!

**Weight of the World**

**Chapter 6**

Hermione picked up her bag and hastily fled the Great Hall when she looked up from her plate and saw Sirius looking at her, a puzzling look in his eyes. She couldn't stand it, knowing that one day, he'd be sent to Azkaban for killing his best friend, a crime he most certainly didn't commit. She thought of Harry, how unfair it was that she was in 1977 and how she was the one getting to know his parents and their friends, things that he'd been wondering for years, puzzling over, desperately seeking the answers to questions he wasn't even sure he wanted ask, how he should be here, where it was relatively safe and he should be getting to know his parents and godfather.

She sighed in frustration when she her vision went bleary and she made her way to Charms class, the first lesson she had today. She glanced at her timetable that she had seen on her plate when she sat down, seeing two bleary blue boxes, meaning that she had double charms. She cursed the lessons and for the first time in a long time, she didn't feel like going to classes, instead she wanted to go to Library and research and research to find some way home, where she needed to be, to help Harry find the Horcruxes…She couldn't do it alone and she knew that neither could Harry and Ron.

She leaned against the wall next to the Charms classroom and she just realised her mistake, she was new to Hogwarts, how was she to know where Charms was? She mentally berated herself and before any students saw her, she looked both ways before running up the stairs and making a blind turn, just following the hallways and climbing the stairs, continuing this till the bell rang out for first lesson.

She could hardly believe that she was purposely making herself late and ducked into the secret passage that Fred and George had shown her when she made them take her to the kitchens, which is where she ended up. Charms class was down the corridor and up two flights of stairs and she hoisted her bag quickly on her shoulder just about to set off at a quick pace when…

"Oi!" Hermione turned around fast and dropped her bag, grabbing her wand and pointing it at the person behind her, who raised a delicately shaped eyebrow and held his hands up to his chest in mock surrender. "You're awfully jumpy, Hermione," Sirius commented and Hermione blinked in confusion, for a second thinking in her head that he was saying she had jumped. She sighed and lowered her wand, her eyes meeting his. He grinned and lowered his own hands, digging in his pockets and producing a packet of Bertie Botts every flavoured beans. "Want one?"

Hermione shook her head no and picked up her bag, turning to walk off, deliberately going the wrong way down the corridor, wondering if he'd point it out.

"Where you going?" He called after her, popping another bean in his mouth, his face puckering up when the sourness rested on his tongue, making his taste-buds pop.

"Err…Charms," she said, looking over her shoulder at him, grateful that he had his uniform on.

"You could go that way, although that would mean going down the stairs, go through the door, around the corner, through another door, up some stairs, down the corridor, up some more stairs, through a door that looks like a wall and the first door on your left is Charms," he looked distrustfully at a white bean and he hesitantly stuck his tongue out letting it slowly lick the bean and Hermione had a sudden rush of liquid feelings, coiling her stomach muscles tightly and a distinct wondering of where all the butterflies came from. He frowned, the corners of his mouth going down in distaste as he threw it over his shoulder.

"Okay…I'll-" she gulped, "I'll be on my way," Hermione turned on her heel, having understood Sirius' directions perfectly and intending to go that way, but she was once again stopped by Sirius.

"I said you _could_ go that way, but I know a much quicker way, five minutes tops if you dawdle," he held his hand out, the one not holding the bag of Bertie Botts every flavoured beans. "You trust me?"

Those words broke Hermione's heart, shattered it into a thousand pieces and she saw him, a look of shock on his face and he tumbled backwards into the veil, Bellatrix's spell still echoing in her ears as Sirius' life left his body.

She trusted him, with her life, she'd been in situations where she'd had to and it seemed to be second nature to her to trust those who had protected her, Harry and Ron and she felt tears fill her eyes and spill over, staining her cheeks.

"Hey, what's up?" Sirius was beside her and she felt protected.

"Yes." At his puzzled look she smiled at him, wiping her tears away, "I trust you." He grinned and took her hand, dragging her foreword and she suddenly felt light-headed at the electrical surge she felt when their palms meet and when he tightened his grip when she made to let go she felt so safe and she was so sick of crying over things that she couldn't change.

But no matter how safe she felt and how it felt so right to hold his hand, she knew that she had to get home, no matter the cost.

*****

When Hermione started to cry he felt his heart plummet down to his stomach like a stone and he immediately went to side, not quite sure what he was supposed to do to comfort her.

"Hey, what's up?" Sirius asked, thinking that if he knew what was wrong he could help her. It was so frustrating, because he couldn't put his arm around and hug her while she cried, which was his preferred way of comforting a girl, as Olivia would tell anyone, he couldn't because he didn't know her, didn't know if she liked being held or if she despised it more then she despised Snape. He was aware that she hadn't met him, but everyone hated him, except Lily, but she was just odd, so, logically, Hermione would hate him as well.

"Yes." Her reply pulled him out of his thoughts and he looked down at her, slightly puzzled. Had he missed something earlier that she'd said while pondering on how best to comfort her.

Probably.

Thankfully, she chose to clarify her response and when he heard the words, "I trust you," he grinned like a Cheshire cat and grabbed her hand, shocked at the electric shock that he received which travelled up his arm and into his heart and he decided that he quite liked the feeling and when she made to move her hand out of his grasp, he tightened his hold, letting the warming feeling take over his body as he lead her down the corridor to their charms class which they were about ten minutes late for.

"So, why the tears?" He asked, suddenly feeling that whatever was scaring her or making her upset was going to feel the wrath of Sirius Black. He felt the same protectiveness towards her that he felt to James, Remus, Peter, Lily, Olivia and Morgan (and Regulus, to an extent) and he had only just met the girl yesterday.

"You look like my best friends Godfather, that's all," she said, looking stubbornly straight ahead and he rubbed his thumb in circles on the back of her hand.

"I remind you of an old man? Well, that's not right," he muttered to himself and Hermione snorted with amusement.

"He wasn't old, he was only thirty seven," Sirius raised his eyebrows at her use of the word 'was' and he sighed, before asking his next question.

"Were you close? To your friend's godfather, I mean," they were getting closer to Charms but he knew Flitwick would be okay and not punish them to bad for being twelve minutes late.

"Yeah, he saved my life," Sirius saw Hermione smile sadly and he gently squeezed her hand.

"I'm sorry," he couldn't help but say to her.

"Don't be," she responded, "you weren't to know."

"No, I mean, I'm sorry that I remind you of him, it must be painful," Hermione stopped in her tracks and looked at him, frowning as if she couldn't believe he said that, "although, he must have been very handsome," he said to break the silence and it worked for Hermione let out a giggle and carried on walking. "Bean?" He offered her the Bertie Botts every flavoured beans, determined to do so until she took one, hopefully a white one so she could tell him if they actually tasted nice or not.

She contemplated it and Sirius shook the bag, shaking them slightly to pressure her into taking one and she smiled, raising herself on her tiptoes and Sirius noticed that she was a least a foot smaller then he was, as he was a strapping 6ft" 2.

"No, no, no, no," he took the bag from within her reach and raised his eyebrow at her; she frowned having no idea what he was doing. "No peeking," he really wanted her to pick a white one.

She laughed lightly and obediently closed her eyes and Sirius took that moment to examine her features. Her long eyelashes rested on her cheeks, curled like little half moons and she had a light dusting of freckles across her nose and her high cheekbones, she had pale skin which made the small scar on her forehead a bit more noticeable as she didn't wear make-up to cover it up, in fact, she didn't wear any make-up at all, her hair was this crazy, bushy, curly mess and went to just above her waist and made her an individual, no girl that he knew liked having crazy hair (except maybe Thoma) but she seemed to take it in her stride, her mouth was curled up in a smile.

He grinned and decided that even though she was plain, she was worth his attention and he handed the bag back to her, taking the hand that he was holding and held it hovering over the bag, letting go fully. She lowered her hand in the bag and rummaged around, her tongue sticking out of her mouth at the corner and she triumphantly pulled one out and he nearly broke into a fit of unmanly giggles at the sight of the white Bean in her hand, but managed to compose himself.

She sniffed it, keeping her eyes closed as she did so, before timidly biting into it, chewing, a thoughtful look face that turned to disgust and her eyes popped open look at the white bean she was holding. She swallowed and glared at him before dropping it to the floor and stomping on it.

"Not nice?" Sirius asked, glad that he didn't eat the white bean.

"French Vanilla," she shuddered lightly and Sirius' jaw dropped.

"How can you not like French Vanilla?" He asked, rooting around in the bag trying to find another white bean, well aware that they were fifteen minutes late for Charms. Hermione must have noticed it as well.

"Are you actually taking me to Charms?" She asked, standing in front of him, her arms crossed. He smirked and found a white bean, biting into it, expecting French Vanilla to flood his taste buds and instead he tasted:

"Coconut! Ew!" Hermione's mouth dropped open now, shock dancing in her eyes.

"You don't like coconut?" She seemed amazed that someone didn't like coconut.

"No. It makes me feel ill," he pressed a hand to his firm stomach and frowned when he heard Hermione laugh, "you can go to charms anytime you like, its right in front of you." Hermione turned, her hair actually catching him in the face as it whipped behind her. She laughed lightly and he could picture her blushing before she took a step foreword and hesitantly held her out for the door handle.

Sirius could tell that she didn't want to open the door, the nerves probably affecting her now and he grabbed her hand, replacing it with his own. He smiled at her and pushed the door open, hard enough to bang on the wall opposite.

"Your favourite student has arrived!" Sirius called out to a shocked looking Professor Flitwick and James catcalled, Remus following his example and a Hufflepuff girl on the other side of the room sighed loud enough to be heard. "And I've brought a friend," he pulled Hermione foreword and this time, James wolf whistled twice as loud causing Sirius to grin and sweep his arm in front of him in a bowing gesture.

"Right. Would you care to explain why you are sixteen minutes late, Mr. Black?" Flitwick squeaked out, balancing dangerously on his stack of books.

"Nope," he said, pushing Hermione foreword, "but she would." Hermione turned her head and glared at him so hard that for that second he believed that if looks could kill, he'd be six foot under.

"Well, Miss Kingsley?" Hermione gulped and Sirius was impressed that Flitwick already knew her name.

"I-I got lost," she sighed and Sirius smiled, leaning against the wall, crossing his arms and crossing his ankles comfortably, scanning the room.

"That's okay Miss Kingsley, everybody can be late once," Flitwick said soothingly, I'll mark you as here since the beginning, but if you're late again, I'll add this time onto that time, understood?" Hermione nodded and Flitwick gestured for her to sit down, which she did, scurrying to sit next to Rayne who leaned over to her to whisper something in her ear.

Sirius smiled, pleased that she was fitting in and before Flitwick could reprimand him, he opened his mouth, "I know, I know, This is the millionth time that I've been late, you have to write it up and I have detention tonight at 8pm." His eyes never straying from Hermione as she was pulled into an animated discussion with the girls and he could see James and Peter leaning in to eavesdrop, Remus being to far away to tell what was going on.

"Actually, Mr. Black, I was going to say that since you were helping Miss. Kingsley I was going to let you off, but no, your idea sounds much better." Sirius's eyes widened in shock and the Hufflepuff's and Remus snickered, and Sirius frowned, pushing himself off the wall to sit next to Peter, mouthing what Professor Flitwick was saying as he said it. 'Be here for 8pm sharp and I might let you go early, but I doubt it. Don't bring your wand and wear something that you don't mind getting dirty.'

Sirius cursed his luck, but his thoughts strayed when he heard Hermione indignantly say "Arranged Marriage."

*****

Hermione scuttled across the classroom, not moving fast enough in her opinion from the eyes staring at her. She sat in the spare seat next to Rayne and Rayne leaned foreword to whisper in her ear.

"I told you you'd get lost," Hermione grinned at her and shrugged, glad that Lily was behind her, not having to look into the eyes that painfully reminded her of Harry. "Hey, it's my birthday tomorrow," Rayne said, her voice getting lower when Flitwick glanced at her, "Were having a party in the common room, you'll be there, right?" Hermione pondered it, knowing that she had to look up how to get home, which she decided she was going to spend every moment of her free time doing.

"Were celebrating her last night of freedom," Kara said, leaning foreword from where she was sat with Lily behind her.

"Yeah, poor little Rayney's getting married," Megara said, leaning her chair on it's back legs, her elbows resting in their table in front of Rayne, who pushed them off with her hands.

Megara wobbled before Thoma reached for her and Hermione noticed that her Gryffindor robe was on back to front, displaying the red instead of the black.

"Yeah, my parents are setting me up, something about protecting the 'family's reputation'." She spat.

"You're having an arranged marriage?" Hermione asked, confused and appalled that people would do that for their children, Hermione noticed Sirius sitting in the seat next to Peter and she could see his interest peak and she assumed that he heard what she had said.

"Most pure-blood families arrange marriages, especially families like the Malfoy's and Black's, no offence Sirius, it's just the way the world works." James piped up, scratching his head while Rayne looked solemn.

"You can't be happy about that?" Hermione couldn't help but ask, still trying to wrap her mind around the fact wizards have arranged marriages.

"Am I bollocks, I don't want to be married to some guy I've never met and will probably not even like, but I have to appease my family. Like James said, we just accept it." Rayne frowned as she said it, a dreamy look taking on her appearance and she could have sworn that she was looking at Luna.

"Are you getting married?" Hermione asked Sirius who chuckled under his breathe.

"I was, until I ran away from home and was disowned, Claire Dawson is very upset, apparently she's been looking foreword to being married to me for some time," he scoffed, leaning back on his chair much like Megara and lacing his fingers behind his head, coolness emitting from his body.

"Do you know who you're marrying?" Hermione asked Rayne, leaning foreword eagerly awaiting the information.

"I haven't met him and I can't pronounce his first name for the love of me, but his last name's Lovegood," right then, Hermione could have laughed; this was Luna Lovegood's mother! She couldn't wait to get home and tell Luna that she'd met her mother at seventeen years old and she felt an impulse to hug Rayne, hug her and say "I know your daughter!" but she resisted the urge, paying attention to the professor as he explained vanishing charms and issued a Hufflepuff named Miss. Green to hand out thumb tacks.

"Okay class, the correct incantation is _invisibleous transferoues _which, if said correctly will render your object invisible with a light sheen around it, to tell you where it is," Professor Flitwick explained and Hermione frowned, having already mastered this spell.

"But sir," Megara piped up, throwing her hand in the air, "what's the point of the sheen around it if we want to make it invisible?"

"Because only you can see the sheen, nobody else can, hiding it from somebody's view." Professor Flitwick informed Megara and she nodded, seemingly excepting his answer.

Once Hermione received her thumbtack, she said the spell immediately pleased to see that her thumbtack vanished leaving a white sheen and Hermione shuddered, remembering the French Vanilla bean she had eaten earlier.

"How did you do that?" Rayne asked after she failed to turn her thumb tack invisible.

"I already know the spell, we did it last year at my old school." Which was half true, Hermione herself had learned the spell last year, but nobody else in her year had. Rayne accepted her answer and had a pondering look on her face as she leaned her head on her hand, staring at her thumbtack as if that would successfully make it disappear.

"Well done, Miss Kingsley!" Professor Flitwick said, appearing at her table, "10 points for Gryffindor for correctly issuing the charm on the first try!"

"Sir," Rayne asked, moving her head up to look at the tiny Professor who just came up past the top of the table, "what would happen if you were to swap the words of the incantation around?" Rayne asked, interested.

"I'm not sure Miss. Humes, try it and find out," Professor Flitwick said, looking at the thumb tack sitting in front of Rayne on its base, the point sticking up into the air and Hermione felt an uneasy feeling in her system.

So did everybody else and eight chairs simultaneously scraped back as their occupants jumped up, trying to get as far away from Rayne as possible.

"Hermione, trust me, you do not want to be there," James said, appearing at her side pulling her chair back and picking her up, carrying her to where the Marauders were stood. He dropped her down and she turned to see Professor Flitwick had moved to the far end of the classroom where the girls were stood and Hermione turned back to James to ask what was going on when Rayne uttered the incantation backwards.

"_Transferoues invisibleous!" _A silence began creeping out over the room and Hermione rolled her eyes, annoyed at how much fuss and chaos was made just by Rayne saying a spell backwards.

"This is ridiculous," and Hermione walked foreword but stopped when Remus tugged on her arm, pulling her backwards towards the four boys were Sirius pulled her back behind him, as if shielding her. "I don't get it, nothings happening," she hissed, poking Sirius really hard in the back, trying to get his attention.

"Yet," Sirius whispered, spinning around placing his hands on either side of her head, "Rayne has a certain…fondness for experimenting, she's not done." Hermione's eyes snapped over Sirius shoulder and when an explosion shook the wall she was leaning against and Sirius involuntarily fell into her, she was suddenly painfully reminded that Luna Lovegood's mother was dead.

**A/N:**_ The reason that I'm updating a lot is because I'm on holiday from college, which totally sucks by the way, and I think I should tell all you readers that when I go back I wont be updating as much, as I have exams and such, but I'm daring myself to update at least once a week__ and a big thank you to Rayne (my friend, not the character) who demanded that she wanted be Luna's mother as she really does look like the girl who plays her just more…Willow-y, and pushed me in the right direction for this story. _

_Hope you all had a good boxing day, mine was better then Christmas day, for some reason, maybe because I got a load of money from my granddad and, the bestest present ever! My eldest brother is going to buy me an apartment! Excited!_

_Anyways, enough of my rambling…_

_XxX_

_Kelly _


	7. Meeting Quinton

**Weight of the world**

**Chapter seven**

It was dinner before Rayne was allowed to leave the Hospital Wing, she was fine, but Professor Flitwick demanded that she go to the Hospital Wing to get checked and when she slumped in the seat next to Lily, the cuts on her face was gone, her front tooth was back in its gum and her hair wasn't singed anymore. Madame Pomfrey was a miracle worker.

"You okay?" Kara asked, munching on her tuna sandwich, which Hermione had to move away from, the smell making her feel sick and she moved to sit beside Remus, smiling at him as she did so, and when James sat down opposite her, he gave her a friendly kick in the shin to which she responded by kicking him in the reflex part of his knee. He grinned and grabbed a tuna sandwich and she sighed before she stood up and took her bag, intending to go to the library for her lunch and free period that she had next.

She made her way quietly through the hallways, stopping only once to avoid Peeves and she went through the wall, which she knew wasn't really there and when she entered the library she felt familiarity flow through her veins and she smiled quietly, going to her seat and putting her bag and robes on the back of the chair, before moving through the stacks of books trying to locate a book on time-travelling.

She found one, right at the back of the furthest shelf and she was relieved, afraid that she would have to sneak into the restricted section at night to find a book on time-travelling.

She took the book off the shelf, blowing on the cover to get rid of the dust and she smiled, going back to her table, turning the book over, reading the blurb.

She went to her table and sat down, cracking the book open, hoping that a face wasn't going to jump out of it or that the book was gonna send her even further back in time.

Thankfully, neither happened and she sighed before reading the contents, finding "Potions" at page 94 and she flipped to that page, deciding that it was best to start there.

After five minutes of reading, she heard a coughing and she looked up as it sounded so close. Her golden eyes met the coal, lifeless eyes of Severus Snape and she froze, taking in his hooked nose, stringy black hair and look of disgust on his face. She gulped but decided that once a Gryffindor always a Gryffindor and decided to ask what he wanted.

"What do you want? Can't you see I'm busy," she tried not to let her dislike for him rule what she said, but she realised that she could say anything to him now and have no repercussions for it, but she resisted the urge, knowing it would come back to bite her in the end.

"You're in my seat." He gestured towards her bag and she removed it, surprised when he dropped his own bag on the floor and sat down in the unoccupied seat.

He ignored her surprised look and opened up his book, moving his bookmark and sighing, reading the first paragraph.

Hermione continued to stare, realizing that she was doing it, but unable to stop.

"Stop staring at me like I'm a circus freak, it doesn't become you." Hermione jolted, suddenly able to move again.

"Why are you sitting here?" Hermione couldn't help but ask, the words just tumbling from her lips.

Snape didn't even bother looking up as he responded, "because it's my spot, and I'm not moving, not even for a goody-goody Gryffindor."

Hermione sighed and went back to her book, deciding to ignore the Slytherin beside her.

_Time travelling is a very dangerous thing and can not be taken lightly, if any witch or wizard decides that they must time travel to 'undo their wrongs' then they can do this by issuing a potion, which is known as the voyageur de temps potion, once ingested, the drinker will go back in time for a series of 48 hours and if seen by themselves or any one who knows them, dire consequences can/will occur._

_However, they have been records of other potions gone awry that have sent Witches or wizards back in time, usually when the person sent back in time's DNA have entered the potion, for example, hair and fingernails. The most famous of these cases is Ester Earlington, when in 1765 Ester and her partner, Caleb, where making a detailed potion that would put the drinker into a deep sleep from which they would not awaken for five days if brewed correctly. However, a piece of Ester's hair fell into the potion and it exploded, sending Ester back in time to 1613 where was brutally murdered in 1625 after proclaiming that she was a witch to a court when she was accused of stealing another woman's baby. The connection between the two Ester's was not made until 1864 when Caleb announced on his deathbed that he believed they were one and the same and Ester's child, born to her in 1614 wrote a book based on a story she told him when he was sleeping, about her adventure sent back in time, entitled _The Time-Travelling witch: Ester Earlington. _She never found a solution to her problem (for more information on Ester Earlington, see book mentioned above.)_

Hermione gasped aloud, starling Snape and he glanced sharply up at her, annoyance written across his face at the rude interruption to his reading.

"What?" He grumbled, leaning his elbow on his desk and his head in his hand.

"That's it! Stupid Ron, I knew it was his fault! Oh, but she stayed there…I need that book…" Hermione knew she was rambling and that she shouldn't in front of Snape, he might demand answers that she couldn't give.

"What are you talking about?" He asked in a bored voice, his black eyes sliding up her face to look into her own.

"Book…Sn—Severus, you come here a lot right? I mean, I assume you do because you have a 'place' and your reading a muggle book, so you like to read cause most Slytherin's don't do that and—"

"What do you want?" Snape interrupted her, holding his hand up to halt her words, irritated with how her words weren't making a point.

"Have you seen the book _The Time-Travelling witch: Ester Earlington_?" Hermione asked, shoving the book towards him, pointing to the title. Snape's brow creased as he thought, his mind going through all the titles that he'd seen in his searched through the Library.

"Yeah," he finally answered, pushing Hermione's book away from him and going back to his own.

Hermione groaned in frustration and slammed his book shut, not in the mood for his vague answers. He glanced at her, raising his eyebrows and sighed before getting up, making his way between two shelves, assuming that she would just follow, which, in her curiosity, she did.

He browsed the shelves for a minute, pulling down two books and throwing one in her direction before going back to their table and putting the other one down beside his own. "Translation," he muttered, "I can't read French,"

Hermione glanced at the brown leather book, the title engraved on it in gold font, the letters elaborately styled. "Thank-you," she said breathlessly, hope bubbling up inside her, this book may hold the key to getting back home.

She grabbed her bag and robes and rushed out of the library, delighted at this new find, but surprised at how easily it seemed to come to her.

She ran all the way to the kitchens, wanting a nice cup of hot chocolate to go with her book. She was near the Transfiguration class when she slammed into a body, nearly landing on the cold floor, but hands around the top of her arms steadied her, kept her upright.

"Sorry," she said, her own hands wrapping around the forearms in front of her. When she looked up she saw messy black hair, round glasses and a silly grin.

Now that she was this close, she could see the differences between James and Harry, the main one of course being Harry's scar. They were other differences to, like James' nose was slightly longer and his eyes were hazel, instead of Harry's bright vibrant green and they weren't haunted by death, like Harry's were, having had first hand experience with it after watching Cedric die, Harry's eyes were never the same. James was also about an inch, maybe two inches taller then Harry and James had the happy-go-lucky aura that she knew Harry had craved to have.

"Don't worry about it," their voices were nothing alike, she noticed, James' voice was loud, vibrant and colourful, while Harry's was more quiet and hidden, like he wanted to hide from the world.

"I'm just…I don't know…Happy, I guess," she said, her brown eyes connecting with his hazel ones and he chuckled, giving her arms a quick squeeze before letting go.

"That's good. Are you lost again?" He asked, rubbing the back of his head.

"No, I'm ready to settle in front of the common room fire with a good book and a cup of hot chocolate which I have to say, I'm late for." She looked at her watch and for the first time since she came here and she was finding it hard to keep the smile off her face, "besides, you have a lesson to get to," she said lightly, skipping around him and chuckling as he yelled after her that it was unfair that she got an extra long lunch and how on Monday, with _his _extra long lunch he was going to rub it in her face.

She reached the portrait of the fruit and she held her forefinger out and tickled the pear, grabbing hold of the door handle that appeared yanking on it, opening the portrait entering the warm kitchens that she'd been visiting since she was fifteen. 

Before she knew it, she was surrounded by house-elves and she automatically started looking around for Dobby, expecting him to come bounding up to her, her favourite éclairs arranged on a plate, asking how Harry was doing.

But there was no Dobby and she realized that he was probably working for the Malfoy's at this moment in time. All the House-elves clustered around her, offering a wide range of food and drinks and she felt guilty, but she decided to push the guilt inside and she asked for some hot chocolate.

What she got was another matter. The house-elf, who Hermione learned was called Tipsy, got her hot chocolate, a huge hunk of dark chocolate, éclairs and chocolate chip muffins. Hermione diligently thanked the house-elf and left, happy with the load she had.

She easily made her way to Gryffindor tower, even remembering to jump the trick step and happily sauntered up to the portrait, chocolate drink in one hand, book in the other and her pockets full of chocolate she said the password that permitted her entrance and she collapsed on the red couch in front of the fire, glancing at the clock on the wall she noted the time and took a long gulp of her hot chocolate, cracking open her book and reading the first chapter, entitled: _What went wrong?_

_My mother would tell me the same story, every night at 8pm as I snuggled with my long forgotten teddy in my single bed in the barn where we lived, she would sit in the rocking chair and get this far off look in her eyes as she retold her story, and it went like this: _

_I messed up, babes. I know that, me and Caleb were making a potion, a very powerful one that made you sleep for a very long time and a strand of my hair fell into it and boom! That was it. I woke up in 1613, feeling sick with no idea who I was or where I was…_

The next thing Hermione knew, all the chocolate was gone and she was reading the back page, tears falling down her cheeks and a heavy weight settling in her heart. She never got back to 1845, to Caleb and she was killed under the accusation that she was witch, by the man who fathered her son, who later went on to write this moving book and Hermione knew that if she wasn't in the same predicament as Ester then this would be one of her favourite books, the writing so moving, so perfect, letting everyone know what had happened to her.

She sighed and she really felt for Caleb, who had the love of his life ripped from his grasp to never return to him. She heard the bell ring signally next lesson and Hermione was surprised to find that she'd read the whole thing in just under an hour. She hastily wiped the tears away and put the book in her bag, jumping up and running out the portrait, racing to get to next lesson, knowing it was McGonagall's lesson and she would not be pleased that she was late, not accept it like Professor Flitwick did earlier.

She got there just as the class was spilling in and she joined Kara, who was busy playing with a yo-yo a bored expression on her face and Thoma was singing a song under her breath that Hermione had never heard before.

"Where are Rayne, Megara and Lily?" Hermione asked, smoothing her skirt out and straightening her tie, feeling the strange need to make her Professor proud, something that she had felt since first year, admiring her amazing witchcraft.

"Lily's shouting at some second years who dared to bring a Frisbee with teeth in here and Rayne and Meg didn't get into this N.E.W.T class," said Thoma, "Lily's coming now," she pointed to over Hermione's shoulder and she turned to see Lily coming towards them, sparks shooting out of her eye and she seemed to fizz with electricity as her frustration could be felt from where Hermione stood and she had the urge to go and hide somewhere to escape her wrath.

"What's up, Lils?" Kara asked pocketing her yo-yo and putting her arm around Lily's shoulder, pulling her close to her side, which looked comical as Kara was the smallest of the girls and Lily one of the tallest.

"I'll tell you what's up! Stupid Potter, that's what's up!" She practically screeched, stomping her foot for emphasis, "last year he wouldn't leave me alone, now he won't even look at me!"

Thoma stifled a laugh and went to the other side of Lily. "This is a good thing, Lily. He's leaving you alone, that's what you wanted isn't it?"

"I—" Lily stopped herself, a puzzled look on her face.

"There you go, no need to let him piss you off when he's not even doing anything," Thoma said, slapping her lightly on the back and entering the classroom.

Hermione looked at Lily and she saw the frown settle between her eyes, but when she noticed Hermione looking at her she brushed it off and smiled at her, gesturing towards the open door of the classroom.

Lily went in first and sat down in the empty seat next to Kara and Hermione saw that the Ravenclaw's shared this class with them when she saw Olivia sat next to Thoma, leaving her alone to sit on a table by herself.

She shrugged and dropped her bag on the table behind Thoma's and Olivia's and Olivia turned to grin at her before whipping around again to face the front when Professor McGonagall entered the classroom, her robes billowing behind her and Hermione again wondered how she could be as scary as Snape without even trying, yet she was liked, generally, by her students.

Hermione took some parchment out of her bag and a quill that Professor Dumbledore had bought for her, the translucent white of the quill was actually quite beautiful and for a moment she didn't want to write with it.

"Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts and congratulations on making it into N.E.W.T Transfiguration, I-" she was interrupted when the door banged open and Sirius, Remus and James tumbled in, arguing about something. "Mr. Potter, why are you late?" Without even raising her voice, she had attracted the three Marauders from whatever they were arguing about and Sirius nudged James foreword with his elbow.

"Well, you see Minnie –" He began.

"Why must you insist on calling me that?" Professor McGonagall said wearily, sitting behind her desk, her tips of her fingers touching each other, creating a steeple effect. "It doesn't matter why you're late, except that you are. Take a seat, anywhere." She said dismissively. She heard them clamber over in her direction and she heard the chairs being scraped back of the desk behind her and the chair next to her was scraped back as well. The person dropped into the seat and she leaned foreword so that her hair created a curtain for her to hide behind. Seeing any of the Marauders still made her heart start pounding furiously and she felt sick with the knowledge of what was to come.

_So help them…_Her mind whispered and she buried that thought instantly, if that doesn't happen, if Voldemort doesn't try and kill Harry, he won't be repelled and the future could be so much worse.

It's like the butterfly effect, if a butterfly flaps its wings, it can cause a tornado and Hermione, in this situation, was the butterfly and she had to be very careful to not cause that tornado, to keep the future as it was.

"Today, no practical, so you can put your wand away Mr. Mayor, and get your quills out," a groan ripped through the class, knowing that it was going to be a long class of writing. Hermione poised her quill above her parchment, waiting for the essay title, hoping it was something that she had already done.

"You'll be writing about transfiguring objects into living animals," and with a swish of her wand, she turned her desk into a pig and back again. "I hope that you remember it from the end of last year. Miss Kingsley, can you come here please?" Hermione complied and she felt everyone's eyes on her as she made her way to the front, making her very self-conscious.

"Now, I don't know if you've already performed this type of magic at your old school, if not, you can leave now and practice, getting the essay ready for next Wednesday if that would be more beneficial for you?" She asked, her eyebrow travelling up her forehead as she awaited an answer.

"Now, its okay Professor McGonagall, I know what I'm doing," she smiled at her head of house and turned to go back to her seat seeing that it was Remus who had sat next to her and he was busy writing while Sirius and James behind them were busy flicking balls of paper at people.

She sat back down and set about writing her essay, happy that she knew what she doing. She scribbled furiously for a least ten minutes before she got cramp in her hand. She hissed and shook her hand, attracting Remus' attention.

"You okay?" He whispered, leaning into her personal space a bit.

"Yeah, I'm fine, it's just cramp," she said sheepishly, massaging her hand with the other. Remus chuckled and went back to writing his essay, his eyes tracking Olivia first though. "Hey," she whispered, "do you have a thing for Olivia?"

"Am I that obvious?" He chuckled lightly before a paper shooting star landed on their desk. Remus sighed and opened it, his eyebrows furrowing as he read it. He wordlessly handed it to Hermione and she cast her eyes down, reading the loopy, cramped handwriting: _You are_.

She broke out into a smile and shook her head, looking over her shoulder at Sirius and James who were whistling innocently (and quietly), twiddling their thumbs.

After lesson and they all traipsed to the lesson that Hermione was most looking foreword to: Defence Against the Dark Arts.

She briefly wondered who the teacher was and felt excitement bubble inside her at what would await her-- despite it not being her best lesson, it was easily her favourite one.

They got to the classroom five minutes before lessons started and Olivia waved them goodbye, heading to potions which she had with the Hufflepuff's and Hermione groaned quietly, realizing that even in 1977 the Gryffindor's and Slytherin's shared this lesson, which Hermione always found ironic.

She was strangely pleased to see Megara and Rayne approach them and once again, she struggled to remember if she'd heard of Megara or seen her picture before but the trouble was Megara looked like everyone; she had one of those faces that was just always mistaken for anybody else.

While she contemplated this, the Marauder's, including Peter, approached, leaning against the wall near where all the girls were and Hermione thought it slightly funny that every Gryffindor made it into N.E.W.T class.

The door to the classroom creaked open and the students wearily went in, on guard, Hermione with her hand on her wand, slight paranoia settling in.

Sirius breezed past and Hermione found herself shoulder-to-shoulder to Severus Snape who glanced at her before pulling his wand out when they saw the door at the top of the stairs slam shut. At this point, nearly everybody had drawn their wands and were looking frantically around them when the candles in the room all extinguished, plunging the class in darkness as the windows blinds were down.

A girl screamed lightly and Hermione could feel the terror from the students around her and felt somebody take her hand, squeezing lightly; at first she thought it was Snape until she felt the electric frazzle in her veins and knew it was Sirius. A strange part of her was thankful for the feeling, as she was so used to it since she was twelve it almost felt right to be scared, but she knew logically that she was being ridiculous.

"_Petrificus Totalus!" _The bright red and purple swirling light flew towards the group with speed that Thoma almost had no time to react; thankfully, she held her own and yelled out the protection spell, creating a slightly blue barrier around herself.

Some of the students thought that was it and put their wands down but Hermione wasn't sure that it was over. She didn't know if it was because she'd fought before and trusted the feeling or she was just exceptionally paranoid, but she was one if the few who didn't lower their wands.

"_Stupefy!" _The red light shit at them from the other side of the room and Hermione saw a figure in black, behind a pillar in the shadows. She let go of Sirius' hand and pushed him away, ducking under the spell and shooting her own petrifying spell at the figure, hitting it square on the chest.

Two students rushed foreword, but they were knocked to the ground by a leg-locking curse coming from above them and Hermione glanced up, mistakenly taking her eyes from the shadow-y figure that she had petrified and suddenly, she was at the Battle at the Astronomy tower, dodging spells and calling out for her friends, desperately trying to reach them. Because she was so locked in her dream, she failed to hear or see a spell being fired at her from her left and before she knew it, hands had attached themselves around her waist, pulling her down to the ground, away from the blue light.

She gasped and whoever took her down crawled up her body quickly, leaning their elbows on either side of her face, "You're a tricky one, Hermione." Hermione breathed a sigh of relief hearing Sirius' voice and in her minds eye she could see his cheeky grin as he looked down at her, his mercury eyes shining in mirth. "Let's get these old fogies, shall we?" He asked, bringing himself to his knees, wrapping his arm around her waist again and pulled her up so she was on her knees. The explosion of feelings she got in her stomach was almost painful and her toes curled at the strange sensation, the butterflies turning into Rhinoceros in her stomach, stomping, running rampage on her feelings and nerves, but now was the time and she pushed aside the feelings, but she put a hand on Sirius' shoulder to keep her balance as they stood up.

"How many are they?" Hermione gasped as spells started to fly from almost every direction.

"I have no idea," Sirius answered, "It's a new DADA teacher…Or maybe in this case, it's teachers," he stopped stone cold and fell foreword, frozen as he was hit with a Petrificus Totalus and he toppled onto Hermione, bringing her down with him.

Hermione was under Sirius and she pushed him off, patting him on the top of his head as she got up, muttering a quick "sorry," as she stood up, her wand held tightly in her grasp. She heard James clearly yell out a Stupefy and was slightly relieved that she wasn't stood alone on the 'battlefield'.

She spun around just in time to create a shield around herself, protecting her from an orange spell.

"_Ricoshampra!" _Hermione dodged and spun, collapsing next to a desk, going under it for cover. From where was she could see four figures. She sent a stunning spell at the one above and when he fell, she levitated him to safety, knowing that he wasn't evil and this was simply a lesson in letting them know how to behave on a battlefield. She quickly turned and sent the leg-locking curse at the figure to her left, her spell enabling James to see it and stun it; Hermione watched it fall foreword and she felt James arrive at her side, taking her hand and pulling her up. When she looked to where the fourth and final figure was, she found that it was no longer there.

"Is that it?" Hermione identified the voice as Lily and Hermione uttered a quick "no," her eyes revolving around the classroom, trying to locate the last figure.

"Who else is still here?" James asked walking towards Lily, taking her hand and pulling her to where Hermione was, using the desk as a defence shield.

"_Levicorpius!"_ A voice shouted and Hermione felt wind at her back, a hair breathe away from where she was stood and the sound of a wand clattering to the floor as somebody dropped it. She turned quickly to see a man revolving slowly in circles before her, he grinned sheepishly and waved his hand, the candles all igniting again.

"Well played Mr. Snape! Well played indeed…five points to Slytherin and Miss. Kingsley for taking out two of us, you can have ten points, and Mr. Potter can have five points for stunning one of us! Well done!" The man said, still revolving in circles in the air, suspended by his ankle.

He was very skinny, with long, messy light brown hair and the bluest eyes that Hermione had ever seen in her life, hanging down around his head as he still spun.

"Mr. Snape, can you let me down?" He asked, smiling at the students of which only five were still on their feet: Hermione, James, Lily, Severus and a Slytherin girl that Hermione didn't know the name of.

Snape muttered the incantation and the man fell in a heap on the floor.

"Err…Thank-you, Mr. Snape," he said, massaging his back lightly as he jerkily made his way to his comrades, who were all still and unmoving on the hard, cold floor, "I think," he mumbled under his breath. "Wakey-wakey," he whispered under his breath and waved his wand over one, clapping delightedly when it moved, grumbling about 'brats', which Hermione smiled lightly at.

"Come on, May, this is what we wanted to happen! It's all good," he said, taking some glasses out of the pockets of the robes and balanced them on the end of his nose, handing his out for her. He pulled her up and the hood of her robe fell down, revealing a woman with high cheekbones, slanting brown eyes and long blonde hair fastened back in a plait, flowing with her body, moving with it as she stretched. Hermione was slightly surprised to see that it reached the back of her knees.

"Oh, Quinton, I did so not want to be stunned by the skinny tall boy with glasses," she whined and Hermione decided that she really didn't like her and she dearly hoped that she wasn't a teacher. Beside her she heard James huff and saw him cross his arms.

"Sorry, May, but that's what happened. Thanks for helping, you can go now," Quinton dismissed her and rounded the room to the man that Hermione had knocked from the ceiling, laying in a heap on the floor.

"Up you get, Matt," Matt jumped up the second that Quinton's wand had travelled his body and he had his wand suspended in front of him and he had a crazy look in his brown eyes, so dark they were almost black. Hermione gasped when she saw him, this was Matt Corbin and he had traded alliances half way through the first wizarding war and murdered hundreds of Muggles and muggle-borns. When he was caught and during his hearing, when asked why he did it, he answered: "Because it's fun," before being carted off to Azkaban, where he would spend his last days, dying at the age of thirty-one.

Hermione's grip tightened on her wand and she wished that she had just let him fall to the floor, hatred bubbling up in her stomach.

"It's okay Matt, they're just students. Thanks for your participation, you can leave now," Quinton patted him on the shoulder and went to the last figure as Matt made a speedy exit, running a hand through his fluffy blonde hair.

"Urgh, my head! Who stunned me?" A girls voice could be heard and she was pulled to her feet, her black hair a mess as she ruffled it and Hermione was suddenly reminded of James when he messed his hair up, her blue-green eyes narrowed as she glanced at the five students still standing.

"Come now, Hayley sweetie, let's introduce ourselves!" Quinton said, interlacing his fingers with Hayley, moving to the front of the classroom. "We are your new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, my name is Quinton Timble and this is my wife, Hayley. Say hello!"

Hayley rolled her eyes and nodded her head in greeting before turning back to her husband. "Quinton, shouldn't we wake up the little kiddie winks who have been stunned?" She asked, placing her hand on the side of his face. He grinned and moved to them, yawning and stretching, rubbing his head.

"You can go, I've given five points to everyone still standing and an extra five points for Mr. Potter and Mr. Snape and Miss Kingsley gets an extra ten. But, I want Miss. Kingsley to hold on for a second." Quinton said having just woken Rayne who looked very put off that she had been injured again after previously visiting the Hospital Wing earlier today.

"I'm sorry, Miss. Humes," Quinton grimaced, reaching out to lightly touch the bruise that she had on her jaw, "you should probs go to the Hospital Wing, Madame P. will sort you out."

After Quinton had woken up every student and apologized for various cuts, bruises and scrapes he turned to address Hermione.

"You've fought before," straight to the point and Hermione fidgeted, pulling the sleeves down and over her hands and she kicked at imaginary dirt on the floor.

"Yeah," she mumbled, wanting nothing then to go to bed. Actually, if she was wishing for stuff, she'd rather go home, but that wasn't gonna happen any time soon.

"Right, that explains the name switch," and Hermione's head snapped up, her brown eyes locking on his blue ones.

"How do you know that?" She asked, huddling further into herself.

He smiled and tapped the side of his head. "Because, Miss Granger of this. I'm highly skilled in Occulmancy. I also know that you're not supposed to be here." Hermione looked away and starting inching away towards the door. He seemed to notice for the next thing she knew he was leaning against the door, arms crossed and his head tilted to the side. "I'm not going to hurt you, Hermione. And I won't tell anybody about your little predicament. But you do know that you're stuck here right?" He asked, pushing himself from the door and placing his hand on her shoulder.

She blinked harshly and clicked her tongue, shuffling from foot to foot, and Quinton seemed to notice her anxiety for he sighed and moved away from her, back to his desk where his wife was writing on the chalk board. Hermione briefly noted that she was left-handed. "You can go, Hermione," as soon as the words were spoken, Hermione sprang up, heading for the door. Just as she put her hand on the door handle, Quinton said one last thing to her. "If you ever need any help, any at all, I'm right here." Hermione took a deep breath and opened the door, slamming it shut and the sound echoing through the empty classroom as Quinton's words echoed around Hermione's head.

**A/N: **_I just realized that I haven't put any disclaimers on my chapters…Oops…_

_Disclaimer: I do not, nor have I ever, owned Harry Potter, any of J.K Rowling's characters or the essential Harry Potter plot. _

_However, any characters not mentioned in the Harry Potter series are mine and based on real people and this plot is entirely mine._

_I think that should do…That was for the last seven chapters (including this one) and I'll put disclaimers at the start of every chapter from now on…I can't believe I didn't put them on before!_

_Thanks for reading!_

_XxX_

_Kelly_


	8. A party to remember

**Disclaimer: **_I don't own Harry Potter; no matter how much I wish I did…I would so not have killed Fred if I did :'(_

**Weight of the World**

**Chapter 8**

The sunlight streaming through the windows woke Hermione next morning and she groggily sat up, pushing the covers down her body, shivering as the cold September air hit her, making her want to pull the covers back up, snuggle down and go right back to sleep, but with a common room to decorate for a party tonight, she had best get up now.

She rubbed her eyes and stood up, almost falling when her feet tangled in the robes she'd discarded earlier and she sat back down on her bed, yawning and stretching.

"Good morning!" Kara said in a sing-song voice from the other side of the room and Hermione groaned burying her head in her hands.

"What's up with you?" Kara danced around the room, shimmying slightly, Super Hero cradled against her chest.

"You're a morning person," Hermione grumbled, slightly annoyed at Kara's cheeriness in the morning. Kara juts laughed and waltzed (literally) out of the room and down the stairs.

"She's annoying, isn't she?" Megara said coming out of the closet where Charlie was, Hermione grunted in response and kicked her robes out of the way, standing and this time she successfully stood and she went to her trunk, pulling out the first things she saw and moved to the bathroom.

She came out six minutes later, teeth brushed, hair brushed, face washed and clothed in a thick, white sweater and jeans, she didn't bother to put anything on her feet and she left the dorm room, descending the stairs.

When she entered the common room, she was shocked when somebody threw streamers over her, danced around her and started singing: "It's a party and you're all invited! It's a party and you're all invited!" Hermione laughed and pulled the streamers off, throwing them back at Sirius, laughing again at he's disgruntled look. "That was mean," he pouted, leaving the streamers on his head.

She laughed again and brushed past, looking at the huge banner pinned to the ceiling, declaring that it was Rayne's 18th and there was a picture of a monkey and a lion, moving about, chasing each other, playing.

She turned, still looking up and she saw that somebody had pinned hundreds of balloons on the wall and around the doorframe of the staircases and of the entrance to the common room, the balloon's being Gold, red, purple and white in colour. She saw all the streamers, hanging from the ceilings and decorating Sirius' head as he still hadn't taken them off and they were red and purple bows along the wall, the colours warming with the bricks nicely, creating a lovely contrast.

"Like it?" Sirius asked, moving to stand beside her. "She likes monkeys, and purple and white are her favie colours,"

"Yeah, its-" she took a step foreword and pain exploded in her foot. She quickly retracted her foot and lifted it up, grasping it, hopping on her other foot.

"Hermione where are your shoes?" Sirius asked, but Hermione listed to the side, unable to stay balanced and he caught her, bringing her to his chest. "You cannot stay balanced very well, Miss. Kingsley." He teased her, picking her up and walking over the confetti that littered the floor, his shoes protecting him from the sharp edges to the couch, where he dropped her unceremoniously.

Hermione had no idea what to do or how to think, the Rhinoceroses had returned with a vengeance and she felt her skin break out in goose bumps. Something that should so not be feeling for her best friends dead Godfather who was twenty years older.

"I—I have to go," Hermione uttered, jumping up before falling back down, remembering the confetti when an umbrella shaped piece stabbed her foot.

"Yeah, good luck with walking across the floor of painful feet," Sirius said, collapsing into the armchair beside the couch, staring at the unlit fire. Hermione moved along the couch, resting her back against the arm of the chair, bringing her feet in front of her, resting them on the cushions.

She was lost deep in thought, desperation, sadness, elation and confusion surrounding her senses, not helping in the least. She was also slightly annoyed that someone had littered the whole floor with confetti.

She was aware that Sirius had moved and he was crouched beside her, his grey eyes looking imploringly into hers.

"Which trunk's yours?"

*****

Sirius felt his gaze move to her feet, and travel up her legs and body, her clothes hiding what was underneath, so Sirius couldn't tell what type of body she had, which he found quite annoying. He sighed and remembered the way her body felt against his when he lifted her up and he mentally scolded himself – He'd only known her for two days.

But he couldn't deny the attraction or the electricity he felt whenever he touched her skin. He sighed and leaned his head back, thoroughly confused; he hadn't felt anything near as shocking with Olivia as he did Hermione, and he had loved Olivia…What could he feel for Hermione?

He jumped up, the situation confusing him and he went to the couch and crouched next to it next to Hermione's head.

"Which trunk's yours?" He asked, a smile tugging at his lips.

Her eyes widened and she moved, twisting her body to the side, her hand going to tug at his black t-shirt, but he danced away from her reach, grinning the moment that she realized she was powerless to stop him unless she wanted feet sporting confetti. For the first since James had thrown the confetti everywhere, he was actually thankful that he had. He grabbed his wand out the pocket of his blue jeans and whispered a spell, freezing the stairs stone's and he gingerly put his foot on the stair, ecstatic when it held and he ran up, laughing at Hermione's threats behind him.

He entered the room carefully, hand over his eyes at first, using his heightened senses to smell of any of the girls were still in there as he only saw Kara and Megara this morning.

However, he smelt something totally different then the girl's individual scents, and it disturbed even him slightly that he could smell them so easily and tell if they were in the room just by sniffing the air.

The quiet bark that followed confirmed his suspicions and he grinned, turning into Padfoot and nudging the door to the closet open with his snout, slightly surprised by the blob that came pelting at him at a hundred miles an hour.

He barked in delight when he saw the Golden Retriever and he couldn't stop the instinct he had in him to play with the little puppy.

"What the hell?" Hermione's voice penetrated his ears, louder then necessary and he grimaced afraid that he'd been seen despite the fact that he was in the closet, he knew how threatening Padfoot looked, with his shaggy black hair and he prayed that she couldn't see him, not like this.

"Charlie, how did you get out? Where's Sirius, huh?" Thankfully she hadn't seen him and Sirius turned back into a human, breathing a sigh of relief that she hadn't seen him and he stood to his full height, walking out the closet.

"Your Sirius is right here, M'lady," he bowed low and nearly lost his balance when the puppy threw itself into his legs.

"Hardy har, har," she said, standing up from where she was crouched on the floor, presumably stroking the puppy. "Why did you let Charlie out?" She asked, standing to _her_ full height, which wasn't very high.

"I didn't do it on purpose," he said indignantly, bending down to lift the Charlie up, amused when it started licking its face. "How did you get here? I thought you were stranded on the couch," Sirius asked, holding the Charlie up to his face, unable to stop the smile spreading at how cute and adorable the dog was. He had always loved dogs and was so ecstatic when that's what his animagus form turned out to be.

Hermione took her wand out from where it was hidden in her sleeve and waved it in his direction, "I remembered that I was a witch," Sirius burst out in laughter and returned to the closet, dropping the puppy back onto the floor and closing the door, but he put a window in the door, feeling bad as it was dark in there. Charlie put his paw on the glass and its ears went down and eyes went big and Sirius almost let the dog back out, but decided against it when he saw a lizard out the corner of his eye.

"Okay…let's get away from the lizard that's staring at me with beady eyes." Sirius said, backing away from the lizard, never taking his eyes off it.

"Yeah, try sleeping in the same room as him, it's not fun," Hermione stated, shoving white trainers on her feet.

"Yeah, I can imagine. Bet I'd be much better to sleep with," he winked at her and ducked when a pink camisole flew at his head. "Come on, we need to get food for Rayne's party and a box of tissues. Coming?" He asked, already leaving the room.

Hermione followed after him and the first thing that Sirius was that there was no more confetti on the floor and he was secretly relieved.

"Why a box of tissues?" Hermione asked, easily keeping up with him.

"She's meeting the guy that she's going to marry today. They have to be married by her 19th birthday or she can't marry anyone else. If he's not right, she'll be in tears." Sirius said, running a hand through his black hair, slightly amused by the whole situation.

"I think it's stupid." Hermione said, a frown donning her face.

"I know you do, Kingsley," he said soothingly, rubbing his face and if he was truthful, he 100% agreed with her. Nobody should be forced into a marriage, and his arranged one with Claire Dawson was one of the main factors in him running away from home, although he was slightly sad that he had to leave his posters and banners, as he couldn't get them off the wall…He didn't really think the permanent sticking charm through.

Sirius looked at Hermione and was just amused and how small she was compared to him and how her hair bounced as she walked, falling into her face a lot of the time. He laughed quietly to himself and when she turned to look imploringly at him, he laughed even harder. She just shrugged at his behaviour and before he knew it, they were outside the kitchen entrance.

"Okay…I thought that we were going for food, not stand outside a portrait of fruit." Hermione frowned, looking at the picture as if expecting something magical to happen.

He smiled and tickled the pear, watching her face light up as the handle appeared and he pulled the now door open.

Hermione looked around, taking the kitchen in, in all its glory, Sirius assumed and when the house-elves came foreword, she laughed when they all shoved food under her nose on their silver platters.

"Right," Sirius said, clapping his hands, directing all attention to him. "We are having a party and we need a load of food, chocolate, ice-cream, sweets…Whatever you got, we'll take."

"Siri, sir!" He felt something pull on his jean leg and when he looked down, Tipsy was stood there "we no do that now. You wait, yes?" Sirius crouched down and put his hand on Tipsy's shoulder.

"We don't mind waiting, do we Hermione?" Sirius asked but without waiting for a reply he continued, "On one condition…" Tipsy's eyes widened as big as tennis balls, the bright red of the pupil expanding. "Got any ice-cream?"

Five minutes later they were sat at a table with ice-cream, Sirius had opted for a flavour called 'Tiger' which was vanilla, orange and liquorice, while Hermione went normal and went for chocolate.

"So," Sirius started, taking a bite of his tiger flavoured ice-cream, which he thought tasted quite nice, "do you have a middle name?"

Hermione looked at him weirdly before laughing quietly, moving the spoon around, trying to get a decent sized hunk of chocolate ice-cream. "Yeah, it's Jean," she pulled a face and licked the ice-cream off her spoon, her little pink tongue snaking out of her mouth and Sirius' muscles tightened and he looked away quickly, back at his ice-cream.

"That's an," he cleared his throat, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable and he rubbed the back of his neck, "odd name," he uttered, feeling very self-conscious when he felt her gaze on him.

"It was my Grandmother's name," she said quietly and Sirius looked up to see her picking at the wood of the table that they were seated at.

"Where you close to your grandmother?" Sirius asked, deeming it safe to look at her now that she wasn't licking the ice-cream and took another bite of his own which he decided was the best flavour ice-cream ever.

"I never even met her; she died long before I was born," Hermione said and Sirius expected to see her sad, but she didn't seem to be that upset, but Sirius could see the small line across her forehead and he had to urge to kiss it away.

"What about your parents?" Sirius asked, stabbing his ice-cream with him spoon.

"What about them?" Hermione asked defensively, narrowing her eyes.

"Well, where are they?" Sirius nervously asked, hoping that he hadn't crossed the line with Hermione.

*****

"At home, I expect," Hermione answered, they weren't even married yet, Hermione remembered, and wouldn't be until June 1978. She looked at Sirius to see that he looked confused and she knew that he was about to ask another question and was proved right when he opened his mouth.

"What do they think of you moving schools?"

"They don't know," Hermione sighed, picking up her spoon and balancing it on its point, spinning it with the tip of her finger, "they don't really remember me…It's complicated, Sirius," she didn't want to think of her parents because it hurt, and she couldn't say that they were dead, the thought was to painful to bear. If she couldn't get home, then she'd never see them again and she was only seventeen years old; a girl needs her parents, no matter how independent they may think they are, they need parents, which is why she always felt sorry for Harry and helped him whenever she could with anything and everything.

"It's okay, sorry I asked," Sirius smiled sweetly at her and Hermione felt slight guilt bubble up.

"I'm sorry," she felt compelled to say. Sirius nodded, as if understanding her need to apologize and he reached across the table to take her hand.

Again, she felt the electric surge that numbed her fingers and warmed her heart and skin and she abruptly pulled her hand back, pushing away from the table. "I'm sorry," she gasped, turning towards the door, "I'm sorry," she repeated, fleeing from Sirius, from the feelings she felt and she ran and ran and ran and ran and ran and before she knew it she was stood outside Quinton's classroom. Without thinking she pulled open the door and ran in to see a slightly surprised Quinton sat at his desk, quill poised in his hand as he graded papers, his glasses balanced on his nose.

"Hermione, What is it?" He stood up, his chair tumbling to the floor but he left it unnoticed, "what's wrong?" It was then that she realized that she was shaking and tears were coursing down her cheeks, dripping off her chin and dribbling down her neck. She knew, she knew that there was no way for her to get back, no use in trying because this is where she is meant to be and she can't stop it and she was so frustrated because she couldn't make the future worse, but how was she supposed to make friends with these people when she knew their fate? She couldn't do anything and she was totally helpless and she hated it, she hated having to sit back and watching the people that she cares about die.

Quinton raised his eyebrows and Hermione groaned realising that she'd just said all that out loud to the defence teacher who looked stumped at what to tell her.

"Urgh, it doesn't matter!" Hermione stomped out, running into somebody who was almost knocked off balance, and a smell permitted her senses and she felt her bones go weak as she leaned into Lily who smelled exactly like Harry.

"I can't do this anymore Lily, I can't do it," she wept, holding onto the front of Lily's jacket and her knees went weak, pulling them both down.

"What's up?" A deep voice sounded above her and a warm hand fell on her shoulder, and Hermione knew it was James.

"I don't know, she just ran into me, crying," Lily ran her hands over Hermione's hair offering comfort and Hermione took it, needing the sense of friendship to keep her stable, stop her from going clinically insane.

"Hey, Herm, you need to tell us what's up. Do me and Sirius need to beat somebody up?" James asked soothingly, twisting his body so that he leaned onto the wall beside Lily. It was the right thing to say, it was something that Ron or one of the twins would say and she found herself laughing softly, burrowing her head into Lily's shoulder as she let the stress and the frustration seep out of her via her tears.

She had no idea how long they had been sat there, but it was long after Hermione had stopped crying and she regained her senses, mentally berating herself for turning into a quivering, sating blob.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, slowly moving so that she was leaning against the wall next to Lily, "Mental breakdown," she offered in explanation for her actions.

"Don't worry about it." Lily smiled and James grinned at her, standing up and stretching before offering his hand to Lily who regarded it wearily, a strange look in her eyes. James looked down-fallen and was about to retract his hand when Lily's small one enclosed around his own and Hermione saw _something_ flicker across his face as she did so before pulling her up with one quick tug sending her into his chest. Lily gasped quietly and pulled away, one hand going to smooth down her hair and the other pulling at her shirt while James rubbed the back of his head, smiling sheepishly.

"Sorry, Lily,"

"Don't be. Thank-you," Lily responded and Hermione quietly stood up, slinking away, leaving the two people alone who would have the greatest love story of all time, here, at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry and Hermione had just witnessed the spark.

She grinned to herself and dusted down her robes, deciding that another trip to the library was in order. There must be an answer somewhere; somebody must have written it down in a book somewhere, it just wasn't plausible to Hermione that there was no way at all to do that.

Three hours, Hermione decided that she was in desperate need of some patience as she slammed the thirteenth book down on the table, sending a cloud dust in all directions, causing her to sneeze.

She growled and slumped further in her chair, hopelessness and dread settling in the pit of her stomach. She scrunched her eyes up and she rubbed her face, sighing before standing and looking at her watch.

She gasped at the time and gathered the books that she had decided to take out, holding them under her arms and she hurried out of the library, her shoulder bumping into someone, causing her to drop her books.

"Sorry," she said, not even looking at who she'd bumped into before dropping down into a crouch, collecting her books. She stood back up and ran off; heading for the Gryffindor tower, hoping that she wasn't late for Rayne's party.

Because she was in a rush, she didn't notice that she was one book short and she didn't notice a hand reach out, picking up the fallen book and eyebrow quirking after reading the title.

Hermione got to the portrait just as Kara did and Kara said the password, permitting them entrance to the common room from which, loud sounds like cheering and music could be heard. Neither Kara or Hermione were bothered, Hermione after experiencing a few of the twins parties wasn't amused by the level of noise, but it was decidedly more tolerable then the twins, who Hermione suspected had an edge on the marauders for partying.

She was wrong however, when she had full vision of the party in full swing. The party had only been going on for a few minutes at Hermione's guess and already a few of the older students were drunk and the Happy Birthday sign that had been neatly pinned to the ceiling was hanging off one hook, draping over the heads of the taller students who walked under it; students were dancing wildly to music blasting from the many wirelesses around the circular room and Hermione was slightly afraid that this party was going to last for a long time.

Hermione diligently made her way to the couch, where a couple were already spread out, making out to their hearts content and Hermione hoped that they wouldn't go any further on the couch. She changed courses and went up to her dorm, intending to drop off her books, depositing them under her bed and return to the party, but she heard quiet sniffling.

She quietened her steps and stood outside the door, listening to the sniffles turn to sobs and she felt horrible, wondering who was in there.

She took a deep breath, gathering her courage before she opened the door not that surprised to see Rayne curled up in Megara's bed, tear trails on her cheeks. She shot up when she heard the bang of the door and when she saw it was Hermione, she used her fingers to wipe away her tears, tucking her blonde curls behind her ear.

Hermione's lips curled up in a small smile of what she hoped looked like reassurance, dropping her books on her bed, not caring to hide them from sight right now. "Do you need somebody? Megara or—" she asked, shuffling from foot to foot.

Rayne stared at her, her blue eyes red from the tears she had been crying, as if trying to say 'come on, say something, ridicule me!' but Hermione did no such thing, waiting for Rayne to answer her question.

"I need…Meg," she croaked, shuffling back under the covers, clutching a fluffy pink teddy bear to her chest. Hermione nodded and edged towards the door. "Hey," Rayne said, her eyes peeking over the top of the dark blue covers, studded with stars that shimmered like diamonds. "Thanks," Hermione smiled again, quickly descending the stairs, intending to find Megara among the partiers.

She saw Sirius first.

"Hermione, hey!" He said, waving a goblet in her direction, stumbling towards her, "I know you!" Sirius sniggered and Hermione raised her eye brows, a disapproving look in her brown eyes.

"Are you drunk?" she hissed, not having the patience to deal with a drunken Sirius Black while she was looking for Megara to comfort a crying Rayne.

"Nah," Sirius said, straightening up and tipping his goblet upside down, proving that there was nothing in it, "I'm just such a good actor, don't you think?" He asked, shrugging one shoulder, putting his free hand into his pocket up to his second set of knuckles, hooking his thumb around the belt loop.

"You know what an actor is?" Hermione couldn't help ask, momentarily stopping her search of the common room, trying to get a glimpse of Megara.

"Sure, the Potters have a telly. Once James heard what one was in Muggle Studies, he had to have one so Mr and Mrs Potter bought him one for his fifteenth." Sirius explained, leaning his shoulder into the wall. "How do you know what one is?" He asked a questioning gleam in his eye.

"I'm muggle-born," Hermione waved a hand dismissively, as she continued to search the partiers, annoyed that she couldn't find Megara.

"Who're you looking for?" Sirius asked, standing beside her, so close that Hermione could feel the heat off hid body.

"Oh," Hermione started, standing on her tiptoes to see if she could get a better view, "I'm looking for – Megara!" and before Sirius could say anything, Hermione was weaving through the crowd having spotted Megara at the stairs to the boys dorm with Thoma and Kara as they laughed and drank, talking amongst themselves.

"Megara, hey," Hermione said having reached them, "Rayne needs you, she's upstairs." Megara frowned and without a backwards glance or wave to her friends, she went to the stairs of the girl dorms and disappeared up them, travelling out of sight.

"What's up?" Thoma asked, staring worriedly at the base of the stairs.

"Oh, its nothing, she's just feeling a bit sentimental," Hermione offered in explanation. Neither Rayne nor Megara came down for the duration of the party, which Hermione found slightly ironic as it was her birthday party.

Hermione saw that the couple who were on the couch had gone and Hermione gladly slid onto it, happy to be off her feet.

"Hey," Hermione looked up to see Olivia stood there and Hermione frowned, asking herself why a Ravenclaw was here. "Morgan's here to, I didn't sneak in we were invited and I don't know what the password is, Sirius let us in when we met him in the hallways carrying a load of chocolate." Hermione felt guilt again, this time at leaving Sirius alone, but he seemed fine considering that he had come up to her and started a conversation. Hermione found it a little disturbing how Olivia knew what she was thinking. "I'm Olivia, but then again you probably knew that," she blushed slightly, collapsing onto the couch beside Hermione, pulling her knees up to her chest and resting her chin on her knees.

"I don't mean to be rude," Hermione began, "but who's Morgan?" She felt silly asking it, but she'd never been given a face to the name and she hoped Olivia would give her some insight on the matter.

Olivia shouted a laugh before turning her head and pointing to the tall, dark-skinned boy that she had seen Olivia with on the staircase on her first day here, just after her sorting.

"He's my boyfriend." Olivia sighed and Hermione could see the love in her dark green eyes.

Hermione, being very curious at heart, wanted to know more about her and Sirius, "I heard that you went out with Sirius, at one point," Hermione said, hoping that she wasn't stepping on Olivia's toes.

"Yeah, in fifth year, It's the longest relationship either of us had had, we lasted a whole year," Olivia turned her gaze back to Hermione, resting her cheek on her drawn-up knees.

"Oh," Hermione wanted to know more, but she didn't want to cross the line and she most certainly didn't want Olivia to be mad at her, so she kept quiet, something which she was finding very hard to do.

Beside her, Olivia laughed again. "What do you want to know?" She asked and Hermione opened her mouth to reply that she didn't want to ask anything, but Olivia held up her hand, shaking her head. "I can tell you're bursting with questions, you'd make a good Ravenclaw."

"The hat did consider putting me in Ravenclaw, but it settled with Gryffindor." Hermione said turning her body so that she could look Olivia in the eyes without turning her head which was starting to hurt a little. "Why did you break up?" She began her questioning with the one question that she wanted answered the most.

"Well," Olivia started, moving her knees, drawing them underneath her as her arm went on the back of the couch, supporting her as she leaned her side into the squishy red cushions, "we got to that point when we were just…stuck. I didn't want to sleep with him, I wasn't ready to do that, I was only fourteen going on fifteen and it was to soon for me to even contemplate it, not that he was pushing me, he was quite nice about it really, but I could sometimes feel his frustration, you know?" Hermione was about to answer, but Olivia carried on, "and we just couldn't move foreword in our relationship, so we broke up. I was horrified with myself after having done it and Sirius didn't talk to me all summer, didn't respond to any of my letters or anything and I felt so guilty. But when we came back for sixth year, he just started talking to me again…so here we are." Olivia shrugged, "not that interesting, really."

Hermione took a minute to process that information and she felt another question cropping up, "Had he slept with someone before he got with you?" She instantly blushed the second she asked it and her blush went even redder when Olivia laughed.

"He had, yeah. It's no secret that Sirius is a bit of a man-whore, but he's a lovable one." Olivia reached for her goblet which was resting on the coffee table and took a long gulp, sighing in satisfaction. "I have no idea where James and Sirius got the drink, but man does it taste good," Olivia said. By now, the party was starting to die down, most of the partiers were passed out on the floor or dancing stupidly and Hermione had a new-found respect for Fred and George's parties and only just know did she realize that they were actually mature, never letting the students, especially the younger ones get this drunk. "So, are you interested in Sirius?"

"No!" Hermione said instantly, her eyes widening. "Not at all, it's just that people keep mentioning your relationship and I wanted to know about it, that's all," Hermione said desperately, knowing that she had failed to convince Olivia when she looked at her knowingly, her dark green eyes looking paler in the fire-light.

"He has a nice bum," Olivia said off-handedly, glancing Sirius' way. Hermione frowned, slightly annoyed that when Olivia wanted someone they were in her eye-sight, but whenever Hermione needed someone, they had vanished as if under the invisibility cloak.

"Yes, well, Sirius' backside aside-"

"I beg your pardon?" Sirius asked, coming up behind them, sitting on the arm on the couch, "I happen to have a lovely backside," he took a long gulp of his drink and Hermione felt herself blush again for the hundredth time that day. "I hear from James that you were the one that needed the tissues," Sirius said, not looking at her.

"Well, say that to Rayne," Hermione grumbled, shifting in her seat, feeling quite uneasy.

"Why were you crying?" Sirius asked.

"I just," Hermione rubbed her face, "I miss my friends and my family." Hermione looked at her hands, suddenly finding them very interesting, "I feel lost without them," Hermione desperately wished that Harry and Ron where with her with now, sitting on either side of her, saying what an amazing party this was and how Hermione should loosen up, have a little fun, then she would reply that she needed to finish the essay that Professor McGonagall was bound to set them and they would roll their eyes and all her and all three would laugh. The picture was so vivid in her mind that for a second, she believed that that's where she was.

Then she opened her eyes.

This was too painful, knowing the fate of Olivia and Morgan, of The Marauders, Lily and Rayne…It hurt her heart, made it hard to breathe. That was the moment that she decided that she had to leave them alone. It would hurt less that way when they died.

**A/N: **_Right, that was actually a hard chapter for me to right, probably because I kept getting distracted by my brother and watching Harry Potter and the half-blood prince, which I can't decide if I like or not…Anyways, thanks for your lovely reviews :D_

_Thanks for reading!_

_XxX_

_Kelly _


	9. What are you afraid of?

**Disclaimer: **_I don't own Harry Potter :'( _

**Weight of the World**

**Chapter 9 **

14th September 1977

When Sirius woke his muscles ached and it felt like his mouth was made of cotton. He attempted to roll over but groaned and stopped when the muscles in his back protested against it, screaming with pain. He buried his head in his pillow and cursed the fact that the day was Wednesday and he had to go to classes.

He tentatively got up, stifling another groan when pain flared up and he huffed in annoyance. The full moons were fun and a grand adventure while you were living it, but once dawn came and you collapsed back into your bed, you start to wonder why you put yourself through it. That's what Sirius thought anyway.

Until he turned and saw Remus' empty bed and he became ashamed of himself, annoyed at his own ignorance and stupidity for that split second it takes to think that though. Remus was currently passed out in the shrieking shack and Sirius sighed before standing, being careful not to wake Peter as he slunk into the bathroom, getting ready for the day of lessons.

Once he was washed and dressed, he made his way to breakfast, pausing only once to tie his shoe. He entered the Great Hall, not at all surprised to see Hermione sat there, and not surprised to see her not sat with the girls. He frowned and for the thousandth time he asked himself why she was distancing herself from them, had been since Rayne's birthday party. At the thought of Rayne he pushed Hermione from the front of his brain to the back and swept his gaze along the Gryffindor table, his grey eyes settling on Rayne.

Everyone had heard that Rayne was having an arranged marriage. What they didn't know is who it was with.

Xenophilius Lovegood was the editor of the Quibbler, a bizarre magazine for, what Sirius thought, the clinically insane. He was ten years older then Rayne and the thought of them "doing the deed" grossed Sirius out more then he could actually say. Rayne was beautiful, a vision of delight in his head, but the thought of Xenophilius made hair stand up on his body where he didn't even know he had hair.

He sat down next to James and reached for the toast and jam, liberally spreading the jam on the toast before taking a huge bite, almost more then he could actually chew, but somehow, he managed it. His eyes flickered to where Hermione was sat and he swallowed a third of his toast just as Hermione stood and walked away, not even looking back.

"What's up with Hermione?" He wanted to ask, but the toast lodged in his mouth made that difficult and he tried to swallow but there was just too much in his mouth.

"Oh, Sirius," Thoma laughed, patting him on the shoulder, "ever heard of the expression biting off more then you can chew?" She laughed again, picking up her own toast and biting into it before standing up and following the direction that Hermione went. He frowned, but it didn't have its desired effect as he looked more cute with his puffed out cheeks and frown then scary and intimidating.

James burst into laughter and Sirius finally managed to swallow his toast, glaring at his remaining toast and threw it away, back into the pile in front of him. "I no longer like toast," Sirius mumbled, licking his lips trying to get rid of the crumbs. Beside him, James was still bursting with laughter.

"Oh, Sirius, you're just so cute!" James cooed, pinching his cheeks. Sirius didn't move during James' actions, instead staring straight ahead, pouting with his arms crossed.

"Come on, guys," Megara said, rising from her seat, "It's time for potions."

Sirius and James groaned neither looking foreword to the lesson that waited for them.

"We have to soldier on," James said dramatically, clutching at his heart over his robes, "even if it means—" he gasped, throwing one arm in the air, his other hand coming to rest on his brow. "The dreaded slug!"

Sirius shook his head, amused by his friends antics when James threw himself to the floor, at which point, Sirius turned and walked away, leaving his best friend banging his fists on the floor in 'pretend' fury.

He made it to potions just before the bell rang, slipping in and he felt relived that there was an empty seat next to Hermione. Although to be fair, it was empty because Remus usually sat there and Remus wasn't here. He grinned quietly to himself and plopped down in the chair next to her, she looked up, startled and her eyes widened in slight shock and Sirius had to say, she was a sight for sore eyes. And muscles, he grimaced when he twisted to the side, a twinge of pain shooting to his spine.

Hermione seemed to notice. "What's wrong? Are you okay?" She seemed genuinely worried and Sirius couldn't help the grin on his face.

"Yeah, I'm fine just a bit banged up, nothing to worry about," he smiled at her.

"Good morning, class!" Professor Slughorn said cheerily and Sirius grimaced again, this time in mental pain. "Today, we're going to be learning about…" Slughorn's voice got quieter and quieter until Sirius was gone, lost in a daydream that he knew when he was 'awoken' he would totally forget.

"Hey," he heard a sharp whisper and he looked at Hermione to see her looking inquisitively at him. She hadn't spoken to him since Rayne's party (and a minute ago, but Sirius put that down to just worry and an instinct reaction to know if he was okay) and her voice was music to his ears…Sharp, hushed music, but music all the same.

"Yeah?" He leaned along the desk, getting closer to hear what she had to say, hoping that she was going to beg him to forgive her and that she would ask for a kiss and he would comply too her wishes, wrapping his arms around her and kissing her deeply and passionately as she ran her fingers through his hair—

"Where's Remus, James and…Peter?" His little imagination bubble popped like a bubble and he stared incredulously at her, unwilling to believe that she had just asked that instead of what he'd just dreamed up…Between the two that was the much better option.

He sighed deeply before ticking them off of his fingers, "Remus is sick, Peter's sleeping and James is doing dramatic theatre." He told her, "We had a rough night last night," Sirius said solemnly, hoping for an 'Aww, poor you! Let me give you a massage!' or a least an 'Are you okay? If not, I can kiss the pain away…' of course, he got neither and when the time came to brew the potion he had no clue what he was doing, having been to busy elaborating on his previous daydream.

"Psst," he hissed, trying to get Hermione's attention.

"What?" she retorted back sharply, setting up her ingredients almost angrily.

"Err—" To be honest, Sirius was a little afraid to ask her, but it was either face the wrath of Hermione or Slughorn and while Hermione was scarier, he really didn't like Slughorn.

Besides, Hermione was prettier.

"What exactly are we doing?" Sirius was surprised to hear her laugh at his question and he thought he heard her mutter: 'just like Ron,'

He couldn't resist. "Who's Ron?"

She frowned and Sirius dearly hoped that she wasn't about to shout at him, because he was really tired and in pain and he was quite frankly a little scared of her after seeing her yell at a first year Hufflepuff because he'd walked into her, causing her to drop her bag and it split.

"Ron's one of my best friends," she answered immediately, it seemed to be one those questions that you just answered on auto-pilot. "Well, he was before I came here. I won't be seeing him for a while." She said sadly, looking dejected.

Sirius hated the sadness that was projecting from her body and the urge to comfort her was getting stronger.

"Hermione, why have you been avoiding us?" Sirius asked, suddenly needing to know the answer.

"Sirius, please don't," she said, lighting the fire underneath her cauldron, shaking the flame away from the match just before it burned the tips of her fingers.

"Don't want? Hermione, I thought we were friends, or getting there anyways," Sirius said, leaning his hip against the table, crossing his arms.

"We ar—were." Hermione said, "are…I don't know Sirius, I just don't know anymore." Hermione stressed, pushing her stool back, walking over to the store cupboard just as James snuck in not even gaining the attention of Slughorn as he went to the spare desk next to his and Hermione's.

"What's happening, mate?" James asked, grabbing his cauldron and slamming it on his desk. When Sirius didn't answer him, he clicked his fingers in front of his face, trying to draw his attention.

"Huh?" Sirius grunted, acknowledging James' presence but doing little else.

"What are we doing?" Again, Sirius ignored him, only grunting to let him know he'd heard him. "Oh man," James sniggered, "you got it bad."

"Shut-up."

After potions, which Hermione spent the rest of the lesson ignoring Sirius and James and Sirius and James just copied whatever Hermione was doing seeing as how neither had any idea what potion they were making, the Slytherin's and Gryffindor's traipsed their way to DADA; Quinton and Hayley really were extraordinary and absolutely brilliant at what they do, their skills for defence amazed even James, and he was the best in the class with Hermione definitely close behind.

When they entered the classroom, the first thing that Sirius noticed was that all the desks had vanished and that there was a closet in the middle of the room, balancing peculiarly on its legs as it wobbled, something inside was desperately trying to get out.

"Now," Quinton said, clapping his hands and Hayley beside him nodded, her hair pulled back into a bun. "Who can tell me what's inside the closet?"

Surprisingly, Hermione's hand tentatively entered the air, which was rare. While Hermione was academically brilliant, she didn't often raise her voice during classes. Sirius had always put it down to nerves at being surrounded by people she didn't know at all.

"Ah, yes, Hermione?" Quinton pressed, urging an answer out of her.

"It's a Boggart," Hermione said. From where he was stood, he didn't know what facial expression she had, but her tone of voice suggested unease. "It's a shape-shifting creature which takes on the form of a person's worst fear." Chatter bubbled among the students and Sirius suddenly felt uneasy, as if sharing her emotions would somehow help her.

"Well done! Five points to Gryffindor!" Quinton clapped a lopsided grin on his face. "Now, who wants to have a go?"

Before Sirius knew it, the class were lined up in single-file with Sirius before James and after Rayne with Hermione behind James. Sirius wasn't sure where the other girls were.

"Right, I'll go first, just to get you all prepared. Now, you had to say the incantation 'Riddikulus' and picture your fear as something that you find amusing." Quinton said, pacing in front of the line, "you see, laughter is what repels a Boggart. For example…" He waved his wand and the door to the wardrobe opened, and every pupil waited with bated breath.

A giant frog leaped out of the wardrobe and the whole line shuffled back instinctively, trying to get away from the frog that was at least ten sizes bigger then a regular frog.

"Riddikulus!" he waved his wand and the frog suddenly blew up, as if it were a balloon and then it was flying all around the room as if someone had let all of the air out of it. It went soaring above their heads, a look of confusion on its Froggy face and Sirius barked out a laugh, along with the other students.

"Right!" Quinton said, neatly side-stepping the flying frog as it soared towards him, "next!"

The girl that stepped foreword was a Slytherin girl named Odette Grestitude, who Sirius really didn't like. Well, Sirius didn't like many Slytherin's so that wasn't a surprise, but Odette was just so superficial and such an obnoxious person that whenever she opened her mouth, Sirius felt like banging his head against a brick wall repeatedly.

He wasn't surprised when her fear turned out to be that her outfit clashed…What a waste.

The next person was Eric Crawler, the only male Slytherin that Sirius didn't mind. He didn't like him, but he could tolerate him. His fear was a bit deeper when his mother stepped out of the closet, telling him that his father was dead. A quiet hush descended on the pupils and Sirius fidgeted, not really liking this lesson anymore.

Rayne was up next and she was bold and brave, her wand help steadily in her right hand, never wavering as Eric's mother straightened up, took one look at Rayne and transformed, this big blob of colours in the air as it twisted and changed, distorted itself until Rayne was stood in front of Rayne, a smirk on her face as she looked at herself.

"Hello, Rayne,"

*****

Hermione had to stand on her tiptoes to see what was going on and she found herself leaning on James' shoulder as she gathered her bearings and tried to keep her balance.

"_What are you in this world?"_ The Boggart Rayne asked the real one, circling around her, taunting her. _"You're younger brother preferred by your parents, your future succumbing to a loveless marriage, my dear Rayne, what has your life become?"_ Boggart Rayne shrieked and Hermione saw her arm shake as she held the wand in front of her. _"Worthless,"_ Boggart Rayne hissed, _"You know, you mean absolutely nothing to your friends, did you know that? They don't care about you, they have no desire to care about you and they don't give a damn what you do,"_

"That's not true, Rayne!" Hermione turned to see Megara, who had been leaning against the back wall step foreword, a look of betrayal on her face.

"Meg, I don't—" Rayne started, turning to look at her best friend.

"You know what? Save it," and Megara turned and left, slamming the door to the classroom shut, Rayne following close behind her.

It was Sirius' turn she noticed, and she became interested, wanting to know what Sirius' Boggart was.

Sirius stepped foreword, seemingly invincible, looking directly at the Boggart and watched as it transformed and then…

…There was nothing there.

Hermione frowned in confusion and in her mind's eye; he was doing the exact the same thing, his eyes darting about all over the place, trying to glimpse the Boggart, where ever it may be.

A wave of trepidation plunged on the students and Hermione felt her insides go cold with the fear that the Boggart was there but could not be seen.

"Ahh, enough of this bull," Sirius said, pointing his wand in front of him "Riddikulus!" A thick, red substance flew from his wand and went in front of him, landing on the floor, leaving a puddle and a figure, covered in thick red gloop. Hermione had to admit, it was an ingenious idea, and Hermione smiled.

Then Sirius conjured feathers to stick to the figure, and Hermione laughed.

After Sirius bowed to the amount of 'whoop's' and cheers that he was getting, he sauntered past the queue, high fiving James on the way past.

James was up next. The second that the Boggart's eyes landed on James, Hermione knew what it was going to do.

The figure lost the red gunk and feathers and shrunk, hair sprouting from its school and weight seemed to be shedding off and before any body knew it, Lily Evans was stood there.

"_Oh, Potter,"_ she started, chuckling, holding her hand to her mouth, trying to hide the giggles from the other occupants of the room. _"As if I would ever date you, you pathetic toe-rag, you useless waste of space, how dare you even assume that I'd even like you a little bit, because I most-"_"she moved closer to him, _"certainly-"_ she poked him hard in the chest on the last two words_, "do not!"_ Suddenly Boggart Lily bent at her waist, her arm going round her middle, protecting it.

"What's wrong?" James asked, foolishly caught up in the game that the Boggart was playing. Boggart Lily gasped, and hunched over foreword, her mouth opening and closing breathlessly ad her lips started turning blue and her veins became more pronounced.

"Lily!" James shouted in horror, his hands grabbing the boggart's shoulders, holding her upright. "What is it? What's wrong?" He asked desperately, clutching her tighter when blood started dripping out if her nose and seeping out of her ears.

"James it's not real," Quinton was suddenly there, grabbing James shoulder and pulling him back."

"No! Get off!" James shouted, pushing at Quinton, trying to unsuccessfully get him to loosen the grip he had on his shoulders. When Quinton pulled him back, Boggart Lily fell to the ground, foam frothing at her mouth as she convulsed violently on the floor. "No!" The dreaded scream from James had Hermione's hair standing on end, as she was reminded of the time that Sirius died while Harry lay in Remus' arm, fighting to get free, screaming fro his dead Godfather.

Hermione was brought back to the present time when James' sobs reached her ears as James' knees went weak, refusing to hold up his body anymore. She instinctively went to him, but was pushed aside when Sirius got there first, wrapping his arm around James shoulder and speaking words of comfort in his ears, something along the lines of: "It's okay, mate, Lily's fine. A little pale and she really needs to brush her hair, but she's over there, fine and dandy,"

"Okay, I think that's enough for this lesson," Quinton said, shakily running his hands through his long mane of brown hair, "I'll see you all tomorrow," the class recognized the dismissal and they all turned and left, some were shaking and a Slytherin girl, the same one that was still standing with them at the end of the first DADA lesson, was crying, well, sobbing actually.

Hermione felt numb, having no idea that that's how deep down James' feeling steamed for Lily and finding it unfair at how their short there time was together and for the millionth time she wished that she could do something about it, but she knew it was hopeless as without Lily sacrificing herself for Harry, and Harry repelling the killing charm, then Voldemort would still be at large in Hermione's real time, making the future even worse and that's something Hermione couldn't live with, wasn't ready to take that risk.

So, without a backwards glance at James and Sirius, who were leaning against the wall next to DADA, or Lily who was hesitantly making her way towards them, she left, heading for the sanctuary which was the library.

**A/N: **_I went apartment hunting today, so this chapter's not as long as my previous ones, it's short and to the point. I just thought I'd elaborate on how Hermione got sent back to the past because at the beginning, her hair explodes in Ron's face (which sounds wrong, doesn't it?) and some of her hair falls into the potion that Ron was making causing it to go BOOM and Hermione to wake up in 1977…I'm saying it now because I wasn't sure if I'd mentioned it before, and I cant be bothered to go through all my documents to find it. _

_Anyways, I'm off to bed (It's currently 1am) and I'll most likely have a new chapter up tomorrow. I have no life so I just sit here, writing all day :-D_

_XxX_

_Kelly_


	10. Late night talks and realization

**Disclaimer: **_Alas, I do not own Harry Potter for if I did Fred would still be alive, as would Dobby…Oh, and Hedwig, I'd have saved her too! And Sirius of course, he would so not have died, I love him to much._

**Weight of the world**

**Chapter 10**

28th September 1977

James felt giddy as he entered the Gryffindor Common Room, a huge smile on his face, his hair a mess and his lips bruised. He looked thoroughly snogged.

Who was he snogging?

LILY EVANS! He felt it appropriate to scream it from the rooftops, but he had to settle for the astronomy tower as he couldn't get onto the roof without his broom and he didn't feel like leaving Lily to go get it.

Ever since the Boggart incident two weeks ago, Lily and James had been growing closer and closer which had culminated into the snogging session they had just had and James felt like he was walking on air. Finally, after years and years Lily was finally seeing him as someone other then an arrogant toe-rag.

He did a little jig; he felt so happy he could barely contain it and ran up the boys dormitory stairs as fast as he could, he felt like a girl, rushing to tell his friends how his 'date' went but right now, he could care less.

He rushed into the boy's room and jumped onto Sirius' bed, who grunted but didn't wake up. James frowned at his sleeping friend and looked up to see both Remus and Peter out like lights to. He glanced wearily at his watch that he had been given for his seventeenth birthday from his parents last year and his eyebrows rose when he saw that it was 2am.

Wow, he and Lily had been making out for longer then he thought. It was a good thing that they were Head boy and girl, as the regular curfew didn't apply to them. Who was he kidding; the regular curfew doesn't apply to the Marauders anyways.

He silently contemplated in his head whether he should wake the guys or not but the giggle (yeah, James was so happy he was giggling) threatening to escape made his mind up and he stood up on Sirius bed, bouncing to his hearts content.

Sirius grunted and rolled over, fully awake but ignoring his best friend. James grinned and jumped even harder, bending his knees for maximum impact.

"James, what are you doing?" Remus asked from the other side of the room his figure just barely visible in the dim light of the room, "go to your own bedroom and get some sleep," Remus chastised.

"But I'm happy!" James sang, throwing his arms above his head, "I'm happy because my beautiful Lily flower, she's actually mine!" Three gasps chorused and Sirius sat up so fast that James tumbled to the floor.

"You actually got Evans to go out with you?" Sirius asked, leaning over the edge of the bed, not bothering to give him a hand, "Like, really go out with you? You didn't 'imperious' her or anything, did you?"

"Of course I didn't!" James said indignantly, annoyed that he was in a less then graceful heap on the floor, "who do you take me for?"

"Sorry," Sirius chuckled, climbing off his bed and rounding it, holding his hand out for James, "Its just for the past however years, she's been professing her utter hatreds towards you, know she goes out with you a month into the new school year? Can you blame me for being suspicious?"

James chuckled himself and decided that Sirius had a right to ask it, it was suspicious and if she and James hadn't already had this discussion, he would be wondering about it himself, but it was real and it was happening and James was so happy!

*****

"Girls! Oh, my God, wake up!" Lily squealed, jumping on Meg's bed, mimicking James' actions. "Ahh!!!" She screeched and four figures buried under the covers moved as Meg was fully awake at having Lily fly into her at a hundred miles an hour. "Wake up!" She demanded shrilly, marching to each individual bed and ripping the covers off, grinning delightedly at their shivers and groans of protest. "You'll never guess what!" She collapsed onto Hermione's bed as it used to be hers and clapped delightedly.

"What?" Hermione grumbled, rubbing her eyes.

"Lily, its 2am! Are you insane?" Meg gasped looking at her watch. Thoma moaned and buried her head under her pillow, Rayne looked angry; running her hand through her messy blonde hair and Kara was still asleep, not affected at all by the cold.

"Me and James—"

"Did you do it?" Thoma asked, sitting up, suddenly very interested.

"No, we didn't do it! We've been going out for about a day!" Lily snapped, thinking that that was the most stupidest question anybody could have asked at that point.

"Yeah, but the sexual tension's been there for about two years." Thoma shrugged. Beside Lily, Hermione grinned.

"No, we kissed!" She said delightedly, and was slightly annoyed when they all tutted and rolled their eyes, not impressed with this news. "Hello? Didn't you numbskulls hear me?" Lily asked, standing up, "I, Lily Anna Evans and James Potter _kissed!"_ She put emphasis on the last word, hoping that that would jolt some kind of response from her best friends.

"Listen, Lils, we love you and all, but were not really that surprised. You've harboured feelings for Potter since fifth year when he defended you when that Slytherin boy called you a mud-blood," Rayne said, grabbing her quilt and wrapping it around her.

"Yeah, were happy for you, but were not surprised," Kara finished, having woken up. Lily frowned and took in what they were saying, before being satisfied that that was a good enough answer for their lack of excitement and she let them off the hook.

"So, is he a good kisser?" Meg asked, twisting on her bed so that she was on her front, her legs in the air, ankles curled around each other as her blue eyes looked imploringly at her, as if she was a child waiting for her mother to tell her a story.

"Well…"

*****

"Well…" Lily said and Hermione could tell that she loved the attention that she was getting from the girls as they all gazed at her, eyes big and questioning. Except for Kara's whose brown eyes had darkened with sleep. "To be honest, I've had better," Hermione couldn't help the snort when she heard that and the other girls all broke into giggles.

Hermione tuned the gossiping out, going back to the days when Parvarti and Lavender used to include Hermione in their gossiping days, and the three girls all became particularly close during their fourth year, especially Parvarti and Hermione as they took great pleasure in bitching about Ron.

"Hermione?" Hermione snapped out of her daze to glance at Lily who was looking at her questioningly.

"Huh?" Was her un-articulate response and she shook her head, trying to clear her brain of the past images.

"Seen anyone you fancy yet?" Lily repeated, leaning against Hermione's headboard, crossing her arms, her green eyes narrowing into inquisitive slits.

"No," she answered, a frown on her face as she remembered what her skin and insides felt like whenever Sirius' skin touched hers.

"Ha, you may not fancy someone, but someone definitely fancies you." Megara said, her blue eyes looking at Hermione, giving her the uneasy feeling that she could somehow see through her and read her thoughts.

"Who?" Thoma asked, stroking her cat that Hermione realised was called Cherry, if the little cherry shaped name-tag dangling off her orange collar wasn't a good enough clue.

"I can't tell you directly, I've been sworn to secrecy, but I can tell you that it rhymes with Birius Slack." Hermione felt her world crumble around her when Megara uttered those words. Staying away from the Marauders and Lily was painfully difficult and even staying away from the girls in here was hard. She wanted to be their friends, so desperately craved it as this past month on her own had been so hard, but she couldn't. She knew she couldn't and she had this urge, the urge to tell everybody where she was from, the real circumstances of how she got here and what was going to happen to them. Watching the girls now, they seemed to go in slow motion and in her mind she panned out the deaths she knew: Lily, brutally betrayed by her friend before being murdered at the hands of Voldemort, refusing to move for her son who would be the wizarding worlds saviour and Rayne, experimenting with potions or spells, talking to her nine year old daughter who would witness the tragic death of her beloved mother, causing the Thestrals to become visible to her.

"Did Sirius tell you that?" Lily asked, leaning foreword, brining one knee up to her chest.

"Nope," Megara said, rolling onto her back, her head hanging over the edge of the bed.

"Then how do you know it's true?" Rayne asked, holding her pink teddy bear to her chest. The day after the party, Rayne had asked her not to tell anybody that she'd been crying and to not let anyone knew about Snoop, her teddy bear. Hermione agreed as she found it adorably cute.

"Olivia told me," All the girls 'Ahh-ed' like this sealed the deal and Hermione didn't get it. Yeah, they'd dated a year, but why does that automatically mean that she knows if Sirius fancies her? The fact that was even true was very unlikely in Hermione's opinion.

"Olivia know Sirius better then anybody—Except maybe James," Kara said, as if seeing the confusion flit across Hermione's face. "She'd know who he fancied having been in the receiving end of his advances before, she knows what to look for," Kara reached for the desk where Super Hero was sat and Hermione narrowed her eyes. She really didn't like lizards.

"Who are you liking, Kara?" Hermione asked hoping to direct the attention away from her.

Kara went a pretty shade of pink and mumbled 'nothing,' which Hermione accepted but Meg didn't.

"You do!" She pointed, her face now a deep shade of red from hanging it over the edge of the bed upside down for to long, "who is it?"

"It's…just someone," Hermione regretted asking, seeing the embarrassment across Kara's face, but she was curious as to who Kara fancied.

"Oh, come on, Kara," Rayne said, fidgeting where she sat, "which guy do you like?"

Kara looked up and her lips curled in on themselves and she rubbed them against each other self-consciously before opening her mouth. "I don't fancy anyone…I'm seeing somebody," the girls all gasped and the slight tension in the air made Hermione slightly weary.

"Who?" Lily and Thoma asked together.

"Karolyna Feenix."

"But that's a Slytherin," Rayne shot back, straightening up, "you cant be dating a Slytherin!"

"She's also a girl," Kara said wearily, her eyes wide with apprehension.

"I don't care about it being a girl; you're going out with Slytherin," Megara hissed, "do you have any idea how sly they are?" Megara backwards rolled off her body, landing in a crouch, "are you stupid?"

Kara stood up, holding Super Hero close to her chest, "I had no idea that dating a Slytherin determined how stupid you are," Kara spat and Hermione had the urge to crawl under the bed and stay there, not liking this

"Well, news flash, Kara, that's exactly what it does!" Megara raved, waving her arms above her head, "I can't believe this…You're a traitor," she hissed nastily and Kara stopped, looking at Megara with fear, sadness, shock and hurt.

"Fine," she said, walking to the door. "Fine," she repeated slamming it shut. There was a tense silence following her departure and Hermione hesitantly got up.

"Where are you going?" Megara asked harshly, her fists clenching at her sides.

"To see Kara." Hermione answered curtly, leaving before Megara could do or say anything.

She found her, curled up on the armchair near the fire, hugging the lizard close for comfort, tears rolling down her cheeks. Hermione sighed and went to her friend's side, sitting on the arm of the chair.

"It's not fair," Kara whispered, her gaze never leaving the flames.

"I Know, Kara." She joined her friend, staring into the fire as she let thoughts wash over her. Maybe distancing herself wasn't the best thing to do if she was stuck here, maybe she found a friendship that would stick with Kara, having no idea how her life panned out.

*****

"Okay, I got Lily, Remus fancies Olivia--" James ignored the warning growl from across the room, "I'm fairly certain that Sirius has got a thing for Hermione-"

"-Hey!"

"So that just leaves Peter." Three faces turned to look at their friend who's beady eyes darted between them before he sighed.

"Your not gonna leave me alone unless I tell you, are you?" Peter asked, scrubbing his face with his hand.

"Nope," James cheerily said, bouncing on his knees for effect, making the mattress move disturbing Sirius, who had been leaning casually against the headboard, his arms crossed across his broad chest…His limbs were now akimbo as they struggled to find purchase of something to stop him falling off the edge of the mattress, he settled for James' arm, his theory being that if he was gonna fall off, he was gonna take James with him.

After managing to balance himself once again and gave a death glare in James direction, he looked back at Peter waiting to hear his response of the earlier posed question.

"Autumn Phillips," Peter sighed, rubbing his hand through his wispy brown hair.

Autumn Phillips was one girl of quadruplets whom were all in the year below and all in separate houses and whom Sirius had many, many dreams about. He'd dated Spring Phillips, who was in Slytherin, she being the last Slytherin to ever date, now he refuses to go anywhere near the sneaky evil girls of that house. However, just because she was evil didn't stop her from being hot, and Sirius looked the most foreword to the dreams that involved all four girls.

Autumn was the Phillips assigned to Gryffindor and she and Spring didn't get on, not in the slightest. Wynter had been sorted into Ravenclaw and he had heard from Olivia that she was very nice, while Summer had gone to Hufflepuff house. The girls all had auburn hair and deep brown eyes, they're tall and willow-y and quite frankly, they were out of Peter's league.

Sirius had to stop the snigger that was threatening to take over and he coughed into his hand to disguise them. When he looked back at Peter he saw slight betrayal in his eyes and Sirius felt very, very guilty.

"Hey, Peter-" he started, but was cut off when there was a knock on the door. Sirius looked at Remus, who he hoped would get it so that he could talk to Peter, but the werewolf was out for the count. He'd wondered why he hadn't heard a peep from him since he growled at James.

With his bed being the closest he sighed and stood up, grumbling when the person knocked again, louder this time.

He yanked the door open, the insults in his throat directed at the person disturbing their talk dying down when he took a look at the lizard staring at him through big, engorged, not-normal eyes.

He let out a very unmanly shriek and jumped a foot in the air, ignoring the laughter coming from the other three occupants in the room, his eyes fixated on the lizard curled up in Kara's arms.

"What do you want, Kara?" James asked, slapping Sirius on the back as he walked past.

"Do you guys have a spare blanket? Hermione's asleep and she's cold and shaking." Sirius could tell that she'd been crying, the strain of her voice proof of that.

"Why doesn't she use her own blanket?" James asked, leaning against the doorframe. Anyone who didn't know James would think that he was being hostile, but Sirius knew it was suspicion and curiosity causing him to act this way.

"Because were in the common room and I'm not going into the girls dormitory, no sir, not after that and Hermione's cold." Kara said, stomping her foot lightly like a child. "She was the only one who came down, after I told Meg and the girls I was dating Karolyna, Meg went ballistic, shouting about how I was a traitor and was stupid," she snorted, "seriously, its not bad, is it?" Kara asked, seeking affirmation.

The Marauder's had known that Kara was a lesbian for a while when Remus found her snogging Yvonne Island, a Ravenclaw in the year below, while on patrols fulfilling his prefect duties.

"No, but be careful with Karolyna," Sirius warned, grabbing the top blanket from the top of the pile on his bed, he like to be warm and happy when he went to sleep and he didn't understand how James could only have one blanket. Apparently he got to hot during the night.

"Why?" Kara asked, her eyes narrowing, "Is it because she's a Slytherin?" She hissed quit crossly.

"Uh-huh," Sirius answered, breezing past her, heading down the staircase, "I've been out with a Slytherin before, and they can turn nasty." Kara nodded and Sirius continued down the staircase, the only noise he could hear was the door to his dorm closing, Kara's footsteps and the quiet crackling of the fire.

Hermione was laid on her back on the couch, her head on the arm and her neck craned upwards which Sirius knew would hurt like Hell when she woke up in the morning. One hand was resting on her stomach and the other palm up next to her chest, the fingers slightly curling in on themselves. Her hair was a mess, spread out like a halo behind her and her lips were slightly parted. Even though she was in pyjama pants and a Black T-shirt that was to big, Sirius felt an embarrassing swell of emotion and dropped to his knees beside the couch, handing the blanket to Kara wordlessly.

He cupped a hand behind her head and wrapped the other around her waist, his thumb automatically making circular motions over her faded black top.

"What are you doing?" Kara hissed, "I didn't ask you down here so you could feel her up."

"I'm not," Sirius whispered, using the hand on her waist to pull her slowly down the couch, the hand at the back of her head guiding it, making sure that it didn't roughly bang on the cushions once Hermione had been pulled clear off the arm. He didn't want her to wake up with a crick in her neck.

"Blanket," Sirius requested, holding a hand out for the blanket, the other one not moving from her waist. He wrapped it around her, making sure that it covered her to her feet and he tucked it around her only half aware of Kara snuggling into the armchair. He tucked a stray curl behind her ear and cupped her jaw, blown away by how attractive she was to him right then and he fought the urge to kiss her. The strange though to him was that if Kara hadn't been there, he probably would have down.

"You really do fancy her?" Kara asked, looking at them with something akin to realization in her eyes. Sirius sighed and looked back at Hermione, his thumb tracing small circles on her cheek bone.

"Yeah," he replied, "I think I do."

**A/N: **_Ooooh, Sirius likes Hermione, lalalalalalala! Whoa, second chapter up today! I'm on a roll! _

…_Okay, It's actually because I have nothing to do…Oh well…_

_There were actually quads at my old school, but they were named after fruit instead of seasons. _

_Thanks to all you lovely readers who review!_

_XxX_

_Kelly _


	11. Found out and flights

**Disclaimer: **_If I owned Harry Potter would I be writing on fan fics? Probably, but that's beside the point. I don't own it, no matter how much I wished I did._

**Weight of the World**

**Chapter 11**

30th September 1977

When the chair next to Hermione scraped back, she wasn't surprised to see Severus Snape there. However, when a book dropped in front of her she raised her eyebrows in confusion.

"For me?" She asked, reaching out for it. Snape just watched her, his look making her feel very uneasy. She slowly grabbed it and pulled it towards her, reading the title: _The fabric of time. _She gasped, recognizing this as a book that she'd taken out on the day of Rayne's party and how later, while pursuing the other books, she realised that this book hadn't been there. "What are you doing with this?" She asked, flipping through it quickly.

"You dropped it." He sneered and Hermione had the distinct feeling that he knew something that he shouldn't. "You seem interested in time-travel," he said, picking at his fingernails leaning back in his chair, "I saw some of the other titles while you were picking them up, _Time-travel, is it possible?_ And _What's a little time-travel? _I'm not stupid, Kingsley, I knew there was something wrong with you." He said, quite cruelly.

Hermione soundlessly stood up, shoving the book in her bag, "you know what Severus, why don't you meddle in somebody else's business," she turned to walk away, but a hand on her shoulder stopped her movements and she turned, glaring at the hook nosed boy.

"You know your stuck here, right? There's no way to get home, so I'd stop looking if I was you, you're starting to look worn out," despite the words being quite nice, the tone in which they were spoke was not and Hermione bristled, annoyed at the way he talked to her, always sounding like he was insulting her.

She left the library, leaving the Slytherin and she made her way to the DADA classroom, wanting to discuss something with Quinton.

"Quinton?" She called, knocking on the open door, "hello?" not seeing anyone she shrugged, deciding that what she needed to talk about could wait and she turned to leave the room, but she ended up running into somebody, falling to the floor. "Why do I keep doing that?" she asked herself angrily, rubbing the back of her head.

"Because your clumsy?" Quinton suggested juggling what looked like cupcakes, cookies and chocolate éclairs.

"Why are you out here and not in there?" Hermione asked, gesturing to the classroom as she stood up brushing her robes down.

"I went to the kitchens. I'm hungry," Quinton said, backing into the room, winking at a cluster of candles, pleased when they ignited by themselves. Hermione was impressed. "Do you need anything?" Quinton asked, dropping the food on his desk and sitting down, wiping his hands on his robes.

"I just wanted to talk to you about something," Hermione said, "I can come back later if this is a bad time," she went to leave but the door closed by itself, when she turned to look back at Quinton, she saw him put his wand away.

"What is it, Hermione?" Quinton asked, biting into a cookie and dusting the crumbs of the desk.

Hermione took a deep breath, bracing herself for the answer to this question. "There's absolutely no way back, is there?"

Quinton's face fell. "No." He replied, putting his cookie down and wiping the back of his hand across his mouth.

"Urgh…I just don't get it! If magic can make us go back in time, then surely it must be able to be able to bring us foreword as well!" Hermione was ashamed to say that she was whining, but she was fed up and annoyed having just been ripped away from her home and her friends and everybody she loved and appearing in 1977 in a world where everybody she could potentially start to care for were going to die!

"You are melodramatic, aren't you?" Quinton said, rubbing his right shoulder with his left hand. "The reason that you cant go foreword in time is because it hasn't happened yet." Hermione just looked blankly at him and he sighed, pinching his nose between his forefinger and thumb as he decided the best way to phrase his answer. "The future has changed. Just by you being here, it's changed, just like that," he clicked his fingers for emphasis, "it may have only changed a small amount, but it changed all the same so the future you go back to will be different to the future you left…understand?" Hermione frowned and looked at him, a look of puzzlement on her face and Quinton could practically see the cogs turning in her mind as she processed the information.

"But it wont be that much different," Hermione began, but Quinton cut her off.

"It hasn't been written yet. The second you came here, the future was set in stone and you could have gone back then, but now you've effected to many things and the future's being re-written. You can't read the end of a book if it hasn't been written yet," Quinton used the love of her books to help her understand why she couldn't go back, and by the light shining in her eyes, she seemed to have got the message.

"So what am I supposed to do?" Hermione asked, burying her head in her hands.

"Change the future." She looked up sharply to protest that notion, but he held his hand out to her, stopping her from talking. "You already have. You've changed my future, I never believed in time-travelling until I met you, and by Severus figuring out your secret you've changed his future to." Quinton said, picking his cookie back up and taking another generous sized bite. "Cookie?" He offered it to Hermione who shook her head no and stood up, sighing dejectedly before making her way to the door. "Oh, Hermione," she looked back over her shoulder at him and he smiled, "make the most of this time. It's the only one you have left."

*****

"James what has happened to you?" Sirius asked, staring in slight outrage at his best friend, who had just refused to plot a prank with him on Snape.

"I'll be with Lily tonight," James replied as they made their way down the hall and out the grounds, heading for the Quidditch pitch, their brooms held in their hands.

"Alas, I've been ditched for a red-head!" Sirius said dramatically while James laughed at his friend's antics. "I'll just sit in the common room…All alone…"

James just carried on walking, leaving his friend to walk faster to keep pace with him.

"Seriously, Prongs, what am I supposed to do tonight?" Sirius asked, his mind in a whirl thinking of things that he could get up to tonight. As they walked, they past by a gang of giggling Hufflepuff's, one of which sent a wink and blew a kiss Sirius' way. Sirius didn't even notice, his thoughts having strayed to Hermione and how soft her skin was and the overwhelming sense he had to kiss her...He really hoped that she'd stop distancing herself, it wasn't healthy…Well, not for him. He found himself looking for her in the corridors and near begging her (in his head of course) to answer a question in class so he could hear her voice.

They got to the Quidditch pitch and they went to the store cupboard to get a Quaffle; James wanted to practice his Quidditch skills.

They mounted their brooms and kicked off, leaving little dents in the field from the force. Sirius flew to the keeper rings while James, with the Quaffle, flew to centre field, performing a hairpin swerve and facing him head on.

James was Gryffindor's best flier and an amazing chaser. When James zoomed straight at him, Sirius regretted accepting to be the keeper, an overwhelming sense of adrenaline clouding his brain before James' arm shot out, throwing the Quaffle towards the right hoop – Sirius spun and flipped, grabbing the Quaffle expertly with his hand.

"Nice try, James!" He yelled, throwing it back to the messy-haired boy, "but you aren't gonna get one past-" just as he spoke, the Quaffle went spinning past his head into the centre ring, "me." He finished, lamely, before turning around and diving, catching the Quaffle before it hit the ground.

"What was that, Black?" James said cheekily, cupping a hand to his ear, "I didn't quite hear you say how amazing and fabulous I am!" He rolled in the air, his chuckles putting a small smile on Sirius' face.

"Alright," Sirius yelled, throwing the Quaffle back to James as he got ready for the next throw.

"Padfoot, we got company," James said, nodding his head towards the stands where there was indeed someone sat and Sirius knew immediately who it was.

"I'm gonna get Remus, you stay and talk," James said, flying away before Sirius could say anything and, even though Sirius could easily catch him up, he knew that he would rather be here, talking to her. "Be back soon!" He yelled over his shoulder although it sounded distant.

He lazily flew over to her, not wanting to appear to be in a rush and he gently lowered the broom down, dismounting and climbing the steps towards her, her eyes glued to the field.

"I didn't know you played Quidditch," she said just before he got there and he chuckled, sliding into the seat behind her and one to the side, leaning his elbows on the seat in front of him.

"I don't," he said, "James needed someone to save the Quaffle, so I did it," he shrugged, "I didn't know you liked Quidditch,"

"I don't," she mimicked his answer, her eyes still looking out over the pitch, "my friends used to play it all the time," she got a far away look and Sirius frowned, "I come out here to think…It reminds me of them," she said softly.

"You really miss them, don't you?" Sirius couldn't imagine being taken away from his friends, his heart clenched at the thought and he put his hand on the top of her back, between her shoulder blades, offering what comfort he could, still not knowing what she needed to be made happier.

"Very much," she leaned back into his touch and Sirius closed his eyes, feeling her pain.

"Come on," he said hoarsely, standing up and moving from his seat, rounding the row so he was stood in her row of seats and he offered her his hand.

"What?" She asked, her eyes having finally left to field to lock her gaze with him, "where are we going?"

He held up his broom in explanation and he saw her face whiten and her eyes go wide as she looked at the broom and he could feel the waves of fear roll off her, "'fraid of flying?" he asked, assuming that was the cause of her reaction to his gesture.

"No," she shook her head, "I'm afraid of falling," she looked into his eyes and he smiled in slight amusement, not moving his hand from where he offered it to her.

"I wont let you fall," Sirius said sincerely, hoping that she believed him, "I promise," she was shaking her head, her eyes glued to the broom and he uttered two words to her that she knew she would say yes to, "trust me." He didn't understand why she trusted him but when he saw the resignation in her eyes he didn't care and when her small hand slipped into his he grinned and pulled her up, pulling her down the stairs of the stadium and only letting go to hop on his broom, instantly missing her touch. "Hop on." He said, one hand gripping the broom in front of him, his arm stretched to its full length, his other gesturing for Hermione.

She shakily made her way closer, "how do---How…?" She stammered, gesturing towards the broom.

As Sirius chuckled, he shuffled back somewhat, "hop on side-saddle," her eyes widened and Sirius thought her fear was empowering, "I promise, I wont let you fall." He saw her take a deep breath and she turned her back to him and at first he thought she was walking away, but she was actually backing up to the broom until it hit the top of her thighs, she grasped the broom and shakily pulled herself on it, his arm creating a barrier stopping her from falling to the floor. She let out a little squeak, which Sirius couldn't help but laugh. "Hold on," she didn't have to be told twice and before Sirius put his other arm around her to put on the broom, she had twisted herself around him, her head buried in his chest. "Up we go."

If possible, Hermione held on tighter and Sirius could smell her hair and couldn't resist burying his nose in to inhale deeply, her touch and smell driving his wild.

As they escalated in height, Hermione decided that it was safe to look, but when she looked at the hard floor so very far away she squeaked again and Sirius put his arm around her, the one not at her back, to hold her closer to him for two reasons: one he wanted her to believe that she was safe and that he wasn't going to let her fall, and the second reason was…Well, he liked the feel of her soft curves pressed against the hard planes of his body.

When they got to a height that he supposed that she wouldn't mind, he took them on lazy laps around the Quidditch pitch. After the third lap, she loosened her grip somewhat and by the sixth lap, she had turned her head (though her eyes were very much closed).

"Come on, Hermione," he whispered in her ear, "you're not looking at the beautiful scenery," he said, "although, it's not as beautiful as you,"

Her eyes popped open in shock and her head ducked from under his chin to look at him, surprise all over her face. Sirius pulled the broom to a stop and his gun metal grey eyes locked on hers. He used the arm around her to slide up her side and cup her cheek.

"You've done something to me, Hermione," he whispered, leaning his forehead against her, so close that all he could see was her chocolate brown eyes, "I'm going crazy," the hand at her cheek slid behind her head, he entwined his fingers in her curls and kissed her forehead letting his lips linger, his eyes closed when heat spread through his body.

"Sirius," she whispered and he moved his head back to look at her and saw _something_ in her eyes, which was enough for him. He leaned foreword to brush his lips across hers; only when he was close, a hairs-breath away from her lips did her eyes close, and Sirius mimicked her actions. Their lips brushed hesitantly and Sirius felt something explode in his stomach, firework setting off and his blood went from hot to cold, like ice was spreading through his veins. He jerked back and the look on Hermione's face mirrored his, telling him that she had felt the same thing. He found himself gasping for breath even though their lips had only lightly brushed against each other.

"What was that?" He asked his body tingling like it did before he got pins and needles.

"I don't know," she was as out of breath as he was, her hair on all directions, face flushed and eyes bright, Sirius thought she looked beautiful.

"Ahh, screw it," Hermione said and brought Sirius foreword, which he wasn't complaining about, the feeling was intense and he was about to discover what it was like for a full out kiss.

"Sirius!" Sirius groaned.

"Ignore them," he whispered, bringing his head closer to Hermione who raised herself slightly to give him better access.

"Sirius!" Again, James went ignored and he nuzzled his nose against her cheek before bringing his lips down to hers for a proper kiss.

"Granger!" Hermione jerked back and the broom rocked as she looked wildly about. Sirius lost her grip and Hermione listed foreword, her grip tight about him as she slipped from the broom.

**A/N: **_Hello! Thanks for your reviews! _

_Hope you like this chapter, sorry I didn't post it sooner, I was watching films with my brothers and sister for ages today…I forgot how good _Home Alone_ is!_

_Have a happy new year!_

_XxX_

_Kelly_


	12. Not ready yet

**Disclaimer: **_I don't own Harry Potter…*sigh*_

**Weight of the World**

**Chapter 12**

"Hermione!" Sirius yelled as she hung onto his torso. She whimpered and looked at him, terror in her eyes. He hooked one arm under her shoulders and pulled her hard to sit her back on the broom, his heart beating furiously fast and his blood roaring in his ears. He held her close, dropping a kiss on the top of her head as he lowered them to the floor, fear making his palms sweat and he felt her trembles as she burrowed close to him. He felt his own body tremble in after shocks to her shakes and once they were on the ground, James and Remus running towards them, Hermione hopped off, only to stumble on shaky legs, leaning on the broom suspended in the air for support.

"How did you know?" She gasped at James, who had caught up to them, out of breath, leaning on his knees; his glasses looked as though they were askew on his head.

"What is it, Prongs?" Sirius asked, annoyed at the interruption the couple had and he rested his hand on Hermione's shoulder, needing the contact after the fear that he had felt and hearing her scream still echoing in his ears.

"I'm sorry, Hermione," James said, straightening, "I didn't mean to make you fall," Hermione frowned and grabbed the front of James' jacket shaking him.

"How did you know?" she demanded, shaking him again to emphasis her point.

"Remus," he said, pointing behind him, "he told me." Her eyes darted to Moony and Sirius winced in sympathy.

She lunged from the broom, breaking the contact with Sirius and she stormed towards Remus, who looked slightly scared as the muggle-born witch came towards him. He actually ran around her and pelted towards them, hiding behind Sirius for protection.

She made quick work of covering the ground and sprinted around Sirius to Remus who ran around the broom, using it as a barrier.

"How did you know?" She screeched, standing on the opposite side of the broom, and Sirius felt fear from her, but it was a different kind of fear then she had felt for flying.

This was pure, bone chilling fear.

Remus rummaged in the inside pocket of his jacket and pulled out some parchment that Sirius knew to be the Marauders map. What was Remus thinking, showing this to Hermione?

"Read the names of people stood on the Quidditch pitch," Remus said and Hermione shakily took it, her eyes darting about the page before settling on a section of the map.

"Know what?" He mouthed at James, having no idea what they were actually talking about.

*****

Adrenaline and fear had made her chase after Remus and she felt slight embarrassment swell inside her and she felt a blush creep up her neck.

She shakily reached foreword for the map, aware of what she was going to find, but she needed confirmation.

Her eyes darted around the map, noticing that Kara and Megara where alone in the Gryffindor Common Room and she gulped nervously for her friend, hoping that they weren't screaming at each other as her eyes continued to search the map, her eyes landing on the Quidditch Pitch. They were four black dots, each one labelled with a name. "Remus Lupin", "James Potter", "Sirius Black" and "Hermione Granger", she growled in frustration, shoving the map back at Remus.

"Why?" Remus asked, his eyes showing concern which confused her.

"Why what?" Sirius asked, scratching the back of head, lost at where this conversation was heading.

"Nothing," Hermione mumbled, not breaking gaze with Remus.

"Her name isn't Kingsley," James said, backing slowly away, "It's Granger," he hid behind Sirius who looked at her with suspicion, which made her feel bad.

She remembered the feeling of abandonment when she was on the broomstick with Sirius, floating in the air, how when their lips brushed she felt…Amazing. At home.

She knew it was pointless, as they couldn't go anywhere, no matter how much she liked him, needed him at this point. But then Quinton's floated back to her: _make the most of this time. It's the only one you have left._

She had decided, there and then, that this was worth it. Besides, how was having a quick relationship with Sirius going to change the future? It wasn't.

Maybe she could take a risk…

"Hermione? What happened to you to make you change your name?" Remus asked, his hand resting on the top of her arm, but she shook t off, crossing her arms defensively. "Has it got to do with…You-know-who?"

She looked at him sharply and blinked, taking a step backwards, "That's a secret," she said shakily, knowing that The Marauders would push her till she broke, she needed to somehow convince them to stop…And she think she knew what she had on them. "Everybody has them," she looked at Remus, "some are just darker then others,"

*****

When she said that, Remus' blood ran cold. Did she know? No…How could that be possible? She didn't know him, and she couldn't have figured out that he was only off on Full Moons like Lily did because she'd only been here for one of his transformations.

"I'll leave you to yours," Hermione continued and she pulled the ends of her robes over her hands. "And you'll leave me to mine," she finished, looking as if she was going to leave the Quidditch pitch, but Sirius stopped her from going.

"Are you in danger?" he asked and Remus could see the fear and concern for her safety in the way he was poised and the tone of his voice…He had seen Sirius do it for him often.

She laughed somewhat manically and looked at each of them in turn, "we're all in danger, Sirius. This is war. I know I've fought in it."

"Is that where you got the scar on your head from?" James asked, gazing at the scar that she sported under her hairline. She reached up and gingerly touched it.

"No," she said, "that was when I fell over about a month ago," she grinned at them, "but I have some from war." She mumbled, looking down, "not as bad as my friend Ron…He was attacked by a brain."

"It can get that bad?" James asked, looking absolutely horrified.

"Yes." She sighed, wrapping her arms around herself and looking in the distance. "And it's only going to get worse," she sighed and closed her eyes tightly, as if she was trying not to say something, "Voldemort wont play fair on you because you're young," Hermione warned, "so I'd pay more attention in DADA if I were you," and she turned and left the Quidditch pitch leaving the three Gryffindor's frozen on the pitch.

"She's serious, isn't she?" James asked, frowning.

"Yeah," Sirius sighed, rubbing the back of his head. "Be back soon, I need to catch up to her," and with a wave she set off, leaving his broom hovering in the air.

"Fancy some Quidditch?" James asked gesturing to the Quaffle and Remus raised his eyebrows. "What? Were not in a war yet, we need to make the most of our time now, right? Don't want to grow up to fast," James shuddered as if that thought was repulsive and climbed onto his broom. Remus grinned, for once agreeing with James' logic and he clambered on Sirius' broom and together, they kicked off, Remus flying to the hoops and James to centre field, ready to play Quidditch while they still could.

*****

"Hermione! Hermione, wait up!" Sirius yelled, pleased when she stopped and looked at him, waiting for him to catch up to her.

"Finally," he muttered and he wrapped his arms around her waist and brought her closer, so close, and lowered his lips to her. His lips brushed against hers and the ice was back and he shivered in delight before moving his lips gently above hers, pleased when she began to move with him and he found himself sucking on her bottom lip while she sucked on his. The fireworks had hit his nerves and he ran his tongue along the seam of her lips, begging for entrance and when she accepted it, he nearly passed out in delight. His tongue ran along hers, entwining with hers and mapping out the contours of her mouth. He felt her knees buckle and he wrapped his arms more securely around her and he felt her hands run up his chest, one stayed over his heart, the other slid into his hair. He groaned and kissed her more passionately, the emotions he could feel tightening his chest like an elastic band had been placed around it and was pulling tighter and tighter until…

Hermione broke the kiss and Sirius trailed kisses across her jaw and down her neck, needing to feel more of her skin and feel the emotions, this feeling that he had was driving him wild. He needed her, she made him feel so…_amazing _and he ran her hands down her sides to rest on her hips.

"…Sirius…" It felt like he was underwater, noises sounded so far away, but he knew that was Hermione's voice and he ducked his head up to look at her and was surprised to see tears in her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Hermione," he whispered, not quite sure what he was sorry for and he kissed her on her forehead, cheeks, temple and the bridge of her nose.

She shook her head and stepped back, away from him and let go, his arms falling limply to his sides. His skin was still abuzz and he was very out of breath.

"I can't do this," she near whimpered and Sirius stepped foreword, needing to hug her, but she moved back, out of his grasp, "God, I'm so sick of this," she near growled and she stepped foreword into his reach and he pulled her foreword, pulling her into his chest, their thighs, hips, and stomachs pressed against each other and Sirius had to try very hard to not let his attraction to her become obvious. "I want to be with you, I do." She put her hand on her jaw and the electrical shock Sirius felt was so good, he closed his eyes and leaned into her touch, very aware that a 'but' was coming. "But I just can't, please don't ask me to explain, it's to complicated and it makes my brain hurt thinking about it." He opened his eyes and saw her, only her and he sighed in resignation, knowing that he was going to have to let her go.

"I'm so sorry," she sobbed and he put one hand in her hair and guided her head to his chest, resting his cheek on her head, her breath fanning across her collar bone.

"It's okay," he said, pressing a hard kiss to the top of her head, her hair tickling his nose. "Maybe later, right?" He asked, trying to keep the hope out of his voice and Hermione sniffed, nodding against his shirt.

"I hope so, when I've sorted myself out, I just…Need to do that," she trailed off and Sirius smiled, the hope that it could happen making happiness bubble in his chest.

God, he was acting like he loved her, which he didn't, not even close, but maybe, in the future, that's what these feelings could turn into.

"I have to go," she said, her voice scratchy and Sirius nodded, slowly loosening his grip and she turned and left, looking back at him and smiling softly.

"Hey," he yelled after her and she turned, "sit with us at dinner?" She grinned at him and he knew that she would. Maybe they couldn't be together now, but they were going to be friends which Sirius would accept and he watched her walk into the Hogwarts castle and he shoved his hands in his jean pockets and made his way to Hagrid's cabin.

He needed a drink.

*****

Later, Hermione and Kara were sat on the couch in front of the fire, each thinking about their individual romantic problems, some how, Kara knew that she and Sirius had kissed.

"Do you love him?" Kara asked and Hermione snorted, pulling the blanket tighter around her, throwing the end half at Kara who looked grateful.

"Not at all," Hermione said and she was serious. Yes, the feeling was intense, but she knew it was most certainly not love. She was tired of running away and she knew that a relationship with Sirius would do little to change the future, but she couldn't help the instinct feeling that she had to back away, to leave it alone.

She sighed and sank lower in her seat, watching the flames dance. "What about you and Karolyna? You doing okay?" She asked, yawning.

"No." Kara sighed, standing up quickly before running up the stairs, leaving Hermione blinking in confusion as to why she'd disappeared. Her question was answered when Kara came back, holding Super Hero. Hermione grinned, quite used to the lizard by now. "She cheated on me with Yvonne." Hermione knew that that was Kara's first girlfriend and she felt her heart break for her friend.

"I'm sorry," Hermione said softly.

"No, don't be, Megara was right. Slytherin's are sneaky." She sniffed and Hermione moved closer to Kara, wrapping her arm around her shoulders. Kara leaned into her and cried out her tears of frustration. It actually felt good to help somebody, Hermione thought as Super Hero curled in Hermione's lap.

After Kara had stopped crying, she sat back up and rubbed her eyes, picking up Super Hero and holding him close.

"Are you and Megara friends now?" Hermione asked, "I know you were talking in the common room before I got there," she said.

"Well were…Acquaintances." Kara said.

"Enough to eat together at dinner?" Hermione asked, standing up and stretching, rubbing her stomach when she heard it grumble.

Kara laughed and stood, leaving Super Hero on the couch, "sure."

Together they left the common room and Kara looped her arm around hers, clasping her hands in front of her. Hermione grinned, remembering times when she and Ginny would walk down this corridor, their arms linked as they talked about boys.

When they got to the Great Hall, Hermione took a seat across from Sirius and when her eyes connected with his she felt her breath falter, remembering their kiss earlier on in the day. Sirius winked at her and she felt the tension leave her.

She couldn't deny the attraction, since she first saw him at the beginning of the month he was gorgeous to her, but she had tried to push it down. Now, she couldn't deny the chemistry, the heat when they touched and the dizziness when they kissed.

She grinned back at him and accepted the mashed potatoes off Kara, passing them onto Lily who she sat next to. This was where was meant to be and she was going to take Quinton's suggestion and live her life in this time as she would at home, because this, here with Sirius, Kara, Megara, James, Remus, Lily, Rayne, Thoma…Hell, even Peter. This was her life now and she was gonna live it to its fullest.

**A/N: **_Hey all!_

_I hope you like this, I'm a bit worried about this chapter, so I hope its good :-D_

_Back at college tomorrow, so updates wont be as frequent D-: _

_Thanks for your reviews!_

_XxX_

_Kelly_


	13. Birthdays and Butterbeers

**Disclaimer: **_I'm not J.K Rowling; therefore, I don't own Harry Potter…Lucky woman…_

**Weight of the World**

**Chapter Thirteen **

31st October 1977

"Happy Halloween!" Someone shouted, waking Hermione from her deep sleep with a dream that involved popcorn, the cinema and Sirius. "Wake up, Hermione!" Someone squealed, bouncing on her bed. Hermione opened her eyes fully to see Kara stood at the foot of her bed with vampire fangs in.

"Urgh, go away," Hermione said, turning over in her bed, dragging the quilt with her. Kara laughed and traipsed out the room, Hermione could distinctly hear talking at the base of the stairs as her eyes slipped closed again and she went right back to the cinema.

"Wakey, wakey!" Hermione moaned in frustration and burrowed even further into the quilt, annoyed that Sirius was laughing.

"That's a beautiful noise you just made, sound even better if it was in ecstasy instead of annoyance," he teased and Hermione kicked him in the shin. He hissed and bent to grab her foot, tugging hard. She squealed as she pulled from the bed and her and the sheets fell off. Sirius couldn't help but laugh as she glanced at him through her lashes and she pouted; she looked adorable.

"You're so frustrating!" She scolded, standing up and putting her hands on her hips. She looked at him and decided that he looked undeniably handsome in his black wife beater and baggy blue jeans, his wand loosely shoved in the front pocket.

She was suddenly aware that she was only in a purple tank top, but she had pyjama bottoms on and fluffy white socks, so she didn't feel too exposed.

"You're so annoying," Sirius shot back, jumping on her back and linking his hands behind his head, reclining. "Hurry up and get dressed, were going to Hogsmeade." Hermione raised her eyebrow and Sirius shrugged, not moving from his position.

Hermione sighed and picked clothes from her trunk, turning to change in the bathroom. As she locked the door, she thought of the 'relationship' that she and Sirius had developed over the past month. It was filled with looks, flirting, teasing and good natured humour that all the Marauders saw fit to join in on. He was being so patient with her and she loved that, but she learned that she hated the full moon. She hated it because of what it did to Remus without the Wolfsbane potion…She could faintly hear it from where she slept, and she also hated it because of Sirius. Whenever he came back from a night out with the Marauders, he was always bruised and winced whenever he was jolted; James was the same. Peter, the little rat, usually came from the experiences unscratched.

She came out of the bathroom to see that the closet door was open and she frowned, sneaking closer to see if Charlie was still in there. He was in there. So was Padfoot.

Her eyes widened and she hurried back to the bathroom, opening the door and slamming it shut, hoping that he would hear and transform back to Sirius…She didn't want to have to find out about Padfoot this way.

Sirius came out of the closet, looking a little sheepish.

"You like dogs, don't you?" Hermione said, moving towards her bed-side drawer, searching for a bobble to tie her hair back with. "Should I be worried?" She teased, looking him in the eye as she tied her hair in a hasty plait, not bothering to see if she'd done it right, she couldn't be bothered. She held her hand out for Sirius and he took it, intertwining their fingers and together, they walked down the stairs.

Remus was sat in the arm-chair, his feet propped up on the table in front of him, a book in his hand, Peter was sat at his feet, a furlong look in his eyes as he gazed into the fire and Hermione had to fight to not act on her impulse of killing him. Well, maiming him terribly, anyway.

Lily and James were laid on the sofa, James behind Lily. Lily was on her back, looking up at his face while James leaned over her on his side, his hazel eyes showing nothing but love for the red-headed girl beneath him.

"Sirius," she said, stopping in her tracks as she realized something, "what's the date?"

Sirius looked at her like she was crazy and he put the back of his hand to her forehead, "are you okay?" he asked, concern flashing in his eyes.

"Sirius, come on, answer my question!" she said agitated. Please don't say Halloween, please don't say Halloween, she chanted in her head, hoping to telepathically convey the message to him.

"It's Halloween." Sirius said, giving the hand he was holding a small tug. "That bad?" He asked.

"Yes," she whispered. In three years, today, James and Lily will be dead.

*****

"Come on, Hermione! Let's go in here!" Sirius dragged her into Honeydukes and he saw her eyes light up in amazement at the amount of sweets that was on the shelves surrounding them, the bright red colour of the shelves contrasting with the bright yellow of the walls and Sirius watched as her eyes passed over the sugar Quills, writing by themselves and the fizzbangers, that emitted a loud 'Bang' when it was bitten into, the fizzing whizbee's that Hermione and Sirius had to duck as they flew over their heads. Her chocolate brown eyes skimmed over the chocolates, stacked up on the shelf behind the counter and the toffee and fudge in huge chunks in canisters.

She looked amazed and Sirius laughed, pulling her in the direction of the Bertie Bott's every flavour beans packed up in numerous amounts and pulled four bags off. His slight obsession with them was starting to dictate his life, he couldn't leave the common room unless he had a bad of the sweets with him.

Hermione tugged on his hand and he turned to see her looking at the writing sugar Quills. He smirked and reached up, grabbing some of them mid-write and when she holds her out to accept them, he pulls them closer to his body fully intending to pay for them.

"Sirius, no, I can pay for them," Hermione insisted, holding her hand out again.

"Reach for them," he said and held them high above his head. She frowned and stood on her tiptoes, reaching up for the Quills, but she soon saw that it was futile.

But Hermione Granger never gave up. With one hand she grabbed his forearm, the highest that's eh could reach, and she leaned into him, her tongue sticking out as she concentrated on trying to get the Quills, as if she could stretch her arm and reach the Quills that way, but Sirius had long forgotten about the quills.

He hadn't kissed her in a month and he was desperately wishing that when she asked him for space, he had said no and continued to kiss her wherever, whenever. She was so close and she could feel all her soft curves and his eyes slid closed as she jumped slightly to reach the sweets. He dropped them unceremoniously to the floor, his mind functioning as he thought of her lips, her sweet lips and the kisses she gave that left him tingling for days and, without a care, he wrapped his arms around her and as she started to give a small cry of shock, he pressed his lips to hers quickly, hoping that she wouldn't push away.

She didn't, but she didn't respond either, glued to the spot in shock and Sirius sucked on her top lip, licking the underside before tracing it lightly, so lightly, just a hairs-breath away with his tongue and he felt her shiver in what he hoped was pleasure.

He slowly slid his tongue inside and groaned deep in his chest when he felt the usual 'wow' feelings that accompanied her kisses, the kind that made him think: "If I die now, I'll be happy, because I've experienced _this! _

Although, he was unsure what _this_ actually was but those thoughts left his mind when her tongue tentatively met his and he was gone. He held her tighter and turned the kiss wild and passionate and he picked her up and placed her on the counter, pleased beyond belief that nobody was there, the owner having gone downstairs to pick up some more goods and no other customers were inside.

He groaned again when he felt her hands grasp his shoulders and her legs tighten from where he stood between them. He ran his hand down her arms and sides, coming to rest on her hips as her hands slid around his neck, entangling with the black hair at the nape, pulling it lightly.

God, he hadn't felt anything as close to this in his life and he sighed against her lips, breaking the kiss with the knowledge that the owner would be coming back up soon.

He rested his forehead against hers and was pleased to see that she was out of breath. He peppered her lips with quick kisses as he helped her hop off of the counter before going to pay for their purchases after a last, slightly desperate kiss to her lips.

Oh yeah, he had it _real _bad.

*****

That was it, totally and utterly it. She was done for, lost, hopeless, and had the biggest crush on a man who was twenty years older!

_He isn't anymore…_Her mind whispered as she watched the muscles in his back ripple and tighten as he reached over the counter to give the money of the owner the second that he came up from the basement.

How old was he, anyways? Yeah, he was seventeen, otherwise he wouldn't be in seventh year and his birthday hadn't been, because they would have trashed the Gryffindor Common Room, but just how long would it be till he turned eighteen.

Hermione burst into uncontrollable giggles (causing Sirius to look at her) at the thought that now Sirius was actually younger then her. Her birthday in September had passed by quietly and uneventfully, ending with a cry in her dorm as she thought about what her birthday would be like if she was home.

Just how many months younger was he then her now? Ron had been six months younger and that hadn't bothered her, but she found that the thought of going out with Harry (which she would never ever do, as he was after all her "little brother") made her go a little queasy at just how young that was…She didn't approve of it in her head.

It was a full three minutes before she noticed that Sirius was actually stood beside her, offering her the paper bag – which was edible – and looking at her questioningly, probably wondering what she was laughing about.

He simply shook his head when she again thought about how she had gone from twenty years younger to potentially a year older and he wrapped his arm around her waist as led her from the shop throwing a wave over his shoulder at the owner.

"When's your birthday?" She blurted out, finally having gotten over her laughing fit and when she recollected on it, it wasn't really that funny but she just had to laugh.

With a slight start she realised that it was the first time she had truly laughed since being here.

She stopped walking and Sirius turned to look at her and she could see the humour and slight mischief in his grey eyes and she couldn't help herself, cupping his jaw and kissing him lightly on his lips. He had closed his eyes the second that their lips touched and when she pulled back he had a small smile on his face.

"Err…" He started, frowning slightly before opening his eyes, a slightly stunned look in his eyes. "What was the question?" he asked, sliding his other arm around her waist, pulling her to his chest, kissing her on the temple. She sighed and rested her head on his chest, her hands resting on his chest either side of her head.

"When's your birthday?" She repeated, her hands going around his chest under his chest, fingers splayed wide across his back and he unwound his arms from around her waist to grab the edges of his jacket then wrapping his arms around her shoulders, bringing the jacket with him effectively wrapping her in his warmth, which she gladly snuggled into.

He chuckled and dropped a light kiss to the top of her head, "21st," he mumbled and his breathe ticked her scalp slightly. She frowned…21st of when? Who says their birthday backwards?

Sirius, apparently.

"Of which month?" She pulled her head back and was not surprised to see a slightly amused look on Sirius' face.

"December."

She giggled and his eyes lit up as a smile pulled at the corners of his mouth, "so, you understand the significance?"

21st was the beginning of the winter solstice and the day that the dog star, coincidently named Sirius, was the brightest in the sky. She nodded, and he grinned and together they walked into the three broomsticks to meet up with the Marauder's and Lily.

They entered the warm pub and Hermione went over to the table where their friends were sitting while Sirius went to get them their drinks. Hermione sat in the seat next to James and smiled at them all (she even managed to throw a half smile Peter's way…Well, actually, it was a quarter smile…) as she unwound her scarf from around her neck and unbuttoned her coat.

"Hey," Lily said, taking James' hand and interlacing their fingers. Hermione smiled, knowing that they would get married…Then she remembered their deaths. She mentally sighed, annoyed with the direction that her thoughts were going down and was somewhat ecstatic when Sirius slipped into the chair on her other side, handing her a butter-beer and she held it loosely, taking a sip, letting the warm liquid slide down her throat and warm her fro the inside.

She watched Sirius out the corner of her eyes, something that she had started doing a month ago and watched him take a long pull and as he lowered the bottle she saw that a drop of liquid was still on his top lip and he licked it off, causing Hermione to blush and snap her eyes to look straight ahead, unfortunately she was met with the sight of Peter and her gaze instantly saw red and he frowned in confusion at her and she wanted nothing more then to shake him and tell him what a stupid idiot he was.

They chatted for a bit and Sirius had put his arm around the top of her chair, his thumb lightly brushing back and forth across the back of her shoulder as he chatted, sharing looks with his friends and laughing at James' antics. She caught eyes with Remus and he smiled at her and she smiled back, her smile brightening her face and lighting up her eyes.

The pub was suddenly caught in a draft and they looked at the direction to see Thoma and Olivia tumbling in, laughing and shoving each other in jest. Olivia took off her beanie hat and ruffled her hair while Thoma pulled off her fingerless gloves and Hermione frowned. What was the point in _fingerless _gloves?

Beside her, Sirius' thumb was still brushing back and forth, but with a bit more pressure and Hermione felt a twinge in her stomach when she saw that he was looking at Olivia, and Hermione recognized it as slight Jealousy.

Olivia and Thoma saw them and made their way over to their table, chatting happily.

"Hey, ya'll," Olivia said, moving to stand between Hermione and James, behind their chairs and Hermione felt slight happiness at that fact. Olivia wouldn't bait Sirius, flirt and bat her eyelashes and wear short skirts like Lavender and besides, Olivia was with Morgan.

Speaking of whom, all six foot of him stepped through the door, blowing into his gloveless hands as if trying to warm them and his brown eyes caught sight of Olivia immediately and he walked over to them, his footsteps strangely loud on the floor and Hermione thought that he looked slightly nervous.

Olivia greeted him with a kiss on the cheek and grasped his hand before turning to start a conversation with Remus about some Transfiguration homework. Hermione was to busy watching Morgan's hand slip into the pocket of his coat and what she saw made her heart beat faster and her blood get warm and a huge smile break out across her face. Sirius noticed and leaned foreword in his chair.

"What?" He asked and Hermione shrugged, slightly guilty that she knew something that she wasn't supposed to know yet. She knew it was going to happen, she'd heard about it, but she didn't know it would be today.

"When do lessons start?" Thoma asked and Remus answered with, "the second. We have tomorrow to sleep in," Remus' eyes twinkled and Hermione and James spoke simultaneously, one excited, the other sarcastic: "Party!"

*****

When he saw Hermione smile he couldn't help but smile back and he had an intense desire to figure out what was making her so happy, so he could do it everyday.

After asking and getting nothing, he was amused when Remus hinted slightly that they'd be up late and how Hermione jumped to the right conclusion so fast, muttering it sarcastically while James practically screamed it in excitement punching the air with his fast as Hermione shook her head. The table erupted in laughter and Sirius saw Morgan place his hands on Olivia's shoulders and turn her around and Sirius suddenly knew what he was going to do the second that he did it.

"Olivia," he said with such severity that the others quietened down and Sirius hand slid up to Hermione's shoulder as she turned sideways to watch the scene unfold. "We've been going out for a while now, well, not long at all, to be honest but…" He coughed into his closed fist and then rubbed the back of his neck before taking a deep breath. "God, I'm not doing this right…I love you. There's no use denying it, I don't want to deny it. I love you and I think I'm ready to let the world know." Out of his pocket he slipped out a small black leather box and with a quick flick of his wrist he flipped it open revealing a white gold ring with a sapphire in the middle, surrounded by diamonds. He heard Hermione gasp at the ring and he saw that Olivia had stopped breathing.

Morgan got down on one knee and James cat called and Morgan shot him a look before looking back at Olivia, his brown eyes connecting with her green ones. "Marry me?" They had attracted the attention of everybody in the pub and Olivia looked a bit like a statue, stood there unmoving, staring at Morgan, one hand on her heart the other falling limply at her side.

"Olivia?" He asked and Sirius could feel the nerves curling off him like smoke and he felt nervous all of a sudden as well.

"Olivia?" Thoma said hesitantly, walking around the table to Olivia's side who hadn't even blinked since Morgan asked. Sirius was beginning to slowly wonder if she had been jinxed or something.

"Olivia?" That was Lily and she tugged gently on the hand by her side. Olivia still made no movement and the table as one had shouted: "Olivia!"

She startled, like she'd just been woken up and she framed Morgan's face, the creamy white contrast with the dark skin and she kneeled on the floor in front of him.

"Yes," she whispered and the whole pub broke into applause as Morgan sagged in relief, putting the ring on her left ring finger while deeply kissing her, his other hand in her hair at the back of her neck and her hands clutched his jacket in his hands.

Sirius thought that he would be angry or annoyed and at first he was, but he loved her enough to let her go and he was the first one to congratulate them, raising his butter-beer high in the air, clapping Morgan on the back and winking at Olivia he made a toast.

"I've known these two for six or so years…One more then the other one," he winked at Olivia again who blushed and buried her head in Morgan's arm who chuckled and placed his hand on top of her head. "I never in a million years thought that they would get together but hey, they did! And they look great together." He smiled sincerely at the couple and again, lifted his bottle in the air, Hermione beside him doing the same and he saw everyone else in the pub doing so, the bartender having poured himself his own drink to join in. Sirius, loving the attention, jumped on top of the table and shouted; "To the future Mr and Mrs Morgan Zabini! Cheers!" He and the rest of the pub downed whatever drink they had and Sirius heard someone spluttering as they chocked on their drink. Once he had finished, he dragged the back of his hand across his mouth and looked at Hermione, whose drink was untouched, droplets running slowly down her chin and a look of horror and astonishment on her face as she looked directly at Morgan.

"Zabini?" She asked herself quietly, "Fantastic, another one…Why is everybody's parent's here?" She asked herself another question, this time angrily, but he could sense the underlining fear and unease.

*****

Zabini…Another one who's going to die. After Olivia gets tortured and killed at the end of this year, Morgan goes to the dark side, to corrupt them from the inside and that's where he must have met Blaise's mother and together…they had Blaise; then Voldemort discovered that he was working against him and killed him...Well, probably got somebody else to do it, but on his orders, leaving Blaise fatherless and his mother, probably so deep in despair that she just married rich pure-blood after rich pure-blood.

To save Morgan, she had to save Olivia. To save them would mean that Blaise would never be born…She couldn't play God like that; she couldn't swap one life for another.

Olivia and Morgan had to die and she was powerless to stop it.

**A/N: **_Arrggh!! College, exams, stress, Olivia's wedding, moving out and my car broke down…Oh well, I still managed to write this chapter for you all! Not my best, but I wrote it in Criminology (I was bored) and typed it up in like, two hours. _

_Everyone have a good New Years day?_

_Thanks for reading!_

_XxX_

_Kelly_


	14. Meeting little brother

**Disclaimer: **_I don't own Harry Potter_

**Weight of the World**

**Chapter 14**

31st October 1977

Hermione and Sirius were walking up to the castle after exiting the carriage, hand-in-hand and they were just chatting, although Sirius was slightly weary after her reaction to…Something in the three broomsticks. And he wondered why she wanted to know what his birthday was.

"What's your favourite colour?" Hermione asked. They were currently asking any question that they could, wanting to get to know the other one better. If Sirius played his cards right, they'd be together by the end of the week.

"Probably grey," Sirius answered.

"Grey?" Hermione asked, her eyes widening slightly, "why?"

"Because it's how I see the world." He shrugged, rubbing the back of his head in slight embarrassment. "Nobody's truly evil."

Hermione nodded slightly and pulled on his hand casually and he smiled, his lips parting and the corners tugging upwards at the happy feeling in his chest.

"When's_ your_ birthday?" He needed to know so that he could pull a part for her.

He was mildly surprised when she started to laugh.

"Oh goodness, I forgot all about it." He stopped walking and she turned to see why, the laughter still glinting in her eyes.

"You…forgot…your birthday?" he said dumbly, a blank look on his face. "Is that even possible?"

"Sure." She shrugged, "I mean, I have just moved Sirius, I'm still trying to settle in."

"When is it?" He asked, hoping that it hadn't happened yet, that it'd just slipped her mind. He really wanted to celebrate her birthday.

"September 19th," Sirius huffed and dragged a hand through his black hair, annoyed at himself. "It's okay, you know. It's not important, it was only my 18th that's not even important in the wizarding world." She said, trying to console him, but he couldn't help but be annoyed that she hadn't got to experience a party for her.

She shivered lightly in front of him and Sirius pulled her closer to his side before walking back in the direction of the castle.

"Every birthday's important, Hermione. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise." He looked straight ahead of him not looking in her direction and thus, missing the slight blush that rose on her cheeks. She was right, eighteen was hardly an important age for the Wizarding world, seventeen was the all important age, but he knew that eighteen was important in the muggle world, a state of freedom as the muggle teenagers became "of age" able to do what they pleased as they were officially adults.

"Seriously, how can you forget your birthday?" Sirius asked, truly confused that you could forget such a thing.

"I just did. I never really celebrated it at my old school with my friends, it was to early in the school year for people to buy presents and was just glazed over." She said a memorial look in her eye and Sirius felt a pang of slight depression at her life. She had fought, fought against the death Eaters and had to change her name to escape them, which means that she's well wanted among Voldemort's followers and she had over heard the girls talking about her, how she'd been bullied and driven away. Even the two friends she talked about, Harry and Ron, weren't enough to make her stay there.

He hoped that he was enough to make her stay here.

"Come on," he said, squeezing her hand, "I hear Halloween dinner calling."

*****

She and Sirius walked through the entrance of the great Hall and Hermione's breathe was taken away as she looked at the decorations adorning the room. It was no where near as amazing as this in her time. Hermione figured that the death of James and Lily wasn't to be celebrated at they didn't make a big a fuss as they did now.

Pumpkins floated about the hall, cackling and winking at the students as they pooled in, the ceiling had been charmed to be stormy with thunder and lightning despite the fact it was actually quite warm outside. Each house table had black cloth over it and Hermione noticed that they glittered with their house colours, the tiny glints of Green, blue, red and yellow making the room sparkle. Candles were placed down the centre of each table and charmed bats flew about the ceiling, sometimes flying low and letting their wings skim the top of students heads.

Sirius seem unimpressed by the decorations and he simply pulled her foreword by the hand, heading for the Gryffindor table and they sat down opposite each other, the black cloth with red glitter surprisingly cool to the touch, feeling like water under her fingers where she expected it to feel itchy.

"Impressed?" He asked, taking in the look she had on her face as she looked about the room.

"I am," she answered truthfully. Even though they still celebrated Halloween at Hogwarts, it wasn't as much as this and she was slightly amazed by it.

"Didn't your old school decorate like this?" He asked, picking at the glitter as he leaned his elbow on the table, his hand supporting his head, his grey eyes staring intently into her brown ones.

"Not so much, no." She shrugged, "we had decorations and a feast and stuff, but nothing as cool as this,"

Sirius grinned and froze; his face lifting and he sniffed the air, like a dog having caught the scent of its prey and his eyes narrowed. Hermione raised her eyebrows at him, wondering exactly what he was doing when he stared speaking.

"Hello, Regulus," he drawled, barely turning to look at his younger brother, but Hermione's head whipped to the side to see a tall boy, black hair, grey eyes, handsome…But not as handsome as Sirius. His eyes were fixed on her as trailed from the top of her head to her waist and she shivered, not liking the feeling that he could see through her and sense her fears and read her mind. He sniffed and turned his gaze back to his older brother.

"We missed you this summer, big brother," he said, shoving his hands into the pockets of his robes, his Slytherin scarf loose around his neck. Sirius scoffed and swivelled around in his seat, standing up and crossing his arms.

"Oh, I'm sure that you did." He said sarcastically and Hermione saw hurt flash in Regulus' eyes. If she didn't know that he was going to be a Death Eater, she would feel bad for him.

"We did." Regulus insisted.

"Whatever," Sirius said, turning his back on his little brother, who looked crest fallen and turned to leave.

"Oh, one more thing," Regulus said over his shoulder, Sirius' eyebrow twitched, but aside from that he made no indication that he had heard. "I hope you and that mudblood aren't getting it on, we have a pure-blood heritage to uphold." But before he had finished, Sirius had turned and leaped on him with such speed, that Hermione hadn't registered it until him and Regulus were on the floor, Sirius delivering punches to his younger brother's face.

"Sirius!" Hermione shouted, getting up and jumping on the table, deciding that going around it would take way to much effort and time before Sirius knocked Regulus unconscious. She grabbed an arm and pulled, but Sirius just shook her off, paying her no heed as he carried on his attack to his brother. Regulus' posse of Slytherin's seemed to have decided that Hermione had the right idea and all four of them grabbed Sirius' arms, pulling him back and up, away from his brother.

"Don't you ever call her that again, Regulus, or I'll have your head!" He shouted, struggling in the Slytherin's grasp before Hermione slid in front of him, placing her hands on his shoulders.

"Sirius, stop it now." Hermione said, pushing back slightly on his shoulders. "Hey," she said, he still refused to look at her, his eyes fixed on his brother who had slowly pulled himself up, wincing when his hands touched his eye. He'd definitely have a black eye in the morning. Hermione sighed and, ignoring the students looking their way, she cupped his jaw and led his face to hers forcing him to look at her. His eyes had darkened in anger and he was breathing in short bursts through his nose, his lips set in a grim line. "It's just a word, Sirius. I don't care," she whispered and he glanced at her, then his eyes flickered to his brother and he sighed, going lax in the Slytherin's grasp.

"Alright, let go, you mugs. I won't attack your precious leader again," Sirius spat but the Slytherin's didn't let go. "Are you deaf? I said let go!"

Hermione's eye narrowed in suspicion and she turned to look at Regulus, who was now dusting off his robes, looking thoroughly disgusted.

"Tell them to let him go,"

Regulus shook his head and ran his hands through his hair, which curled on his collar. "Pfft, no." he said, "I'm not stupid, big brother." He stepped foreword, closer to Hermione and reached a hand for her, but she neatly side-stepped it.

"Don't touch her!" Sirius spat, struggling against the Slytherin's hold.

"What the Hell is going on here?" Hermione turned to see James burst the doors of the Great Hall and make his way towards them. Hermione sighed in relief before a hand closed around her bicep and pulled her backwards, into Regulus' hold.

"Let go!" She said, struggling against his hold, cursing herself for turning away from him.

"Let me think about that…" He taunted, tapping his foot in thought before he leaned down and whispered in her ear "no,"

She struggled more, deciding that they really should have taken self defence lessons whilst at Hogwarts, in case they had been disarmed or they were being held against their will.

"This sucks," she heard Sirius whisper and she nodded her head in agreement just as James arrived and Hermione saw that he was accompanied with Lily, Remus and Peter. The latter didn't really give her that much hope.

"What is going on?" James asked again, standing defensively, taking out his wand, the polished wood shining in the candlelight.

"Don't ask me," Regulus said, tugging Hermione closer, "ask dear old big brother," he sneered, a drop of blood falling from his cut lip.

"Sirius, what is going on?" He asked, not taking his eyes off of Regulus behind her while she saw Remus sneak his wand out and circle the Ravenclaw Table, while Peter went around Gryffindor.

"He insulted Hermione, I got him, his stupid goons won't let me go and if he bruises her, he is a dead man. End of story." His voice had been escalating dangerously with anger and Hermione blinked, remembering that Ron and Harry had used that same tone whenever she was in danger.

"I'm sure your little mud-blood will be fine." Regulus said harshly to Sirius and Sirius' eyes flickered to her, "I hear that she's quite the dueller," he said as he pushed Hermione away roughly, and she would have fallen to the floor if James hadn't caught her, keeping her upright.

"Right," James said, making sure that she had her feet before handing her to Lily, who wrapped am arm around her shoulders, "great. Now. Let. Sirius. Go." He enunciated each word, keeping his eyes on Regulus still and Hermione wondered if he'd actually blinked since arriving.

"Why are you talking in small sentences?" Regulus asked, crossing his arms.

"Emphasis."

"Fair enough," Regulus said, "alright, Gates, Hayes, let my dearest brother go," the Slytherin's did as they were told and Sirius was released. He rubbed his arms where they'd gripped and went over to her, smiling tightly at her.

"You ok?" He asked and Hermione nodded, hoping that he wouldn't go berserk again and they'll end up having to repeat this. If she never saw Regulus again in her life, it would be too soon. "You're sure?"

Hermione nodded again and put her hand on the top of his arm, ushering him into the direction of the Gryffindor table, communicating without words that she wanted to leave. He took her hint and grabbed her hand, pulling her away from the scene.

"Hey, Kingsley," Hermione turned around after a second, a weary sigh ready to leave her lips, but when she saw what was in his grasp, she gasped instead.

"Are you crazy?" Hermione hissed, "give me back my wand!" The mahogany handle was held loosely in the Slytherin's hand and he ran the end down his face lightly.

"I don't think so," he said, taking the tip in his other hand and tapped it against his palm, his grey eyes watching the green sparks coming out of it, "you talked down to a Black. You need to be punished for your insolence."

"Don't be stupid, Regulus." Sirius said, "you're no better then anyone here. In fact, you're the scum on the bottom of people's shoes."

"Oh, of course I would be. While my perfect big brother is the most popular boy in Hogwarts with his pranks and womanizing ways," Regulus said spitefully, the sparks turning red in his anger. "You know, even though you're a no good Gryffindor, decorated your room in you're desperation to be different from us and you ran away, mother still loves you the most. Father still shouts up the stairs that Kreacher's finished Dinner," he said, getting closer and closer, true annoyance shining from his eyes and Hermione took a slight step back. "And you know what the real kicker is?" Regulus asked, stopping just shy of Sirius who looked like he'd just been punched in the gut, "I still wanna be just like my big brother. Funny that, isn't it?" He looked right into Sirius' eyes and Hermione could see sadness and desperation in Regulus' eyes.

"You just want the popularity, Regulus." Sirius said, shaking his head. Hermione could see that Sirius' hand was shaking and she reached out, enclosing his large hand with her small one and was slightly relieved when he tightened his grasp around her hand in return.

"No," Regulus said, taking a step back, his hands falling limply to his side. "You know what I want?" He asked, his hand loosening it's grip and her wand fell to the floor with a clatter as the Great Hall doors and students, ghosts and teachers poured in, but most stopped short at the sight of the Gryffindor's and Slytherin's in the middle of the hall, the students already sat in there were watching with bated breathe, wondering what Regulus was going to say next. He stepped foreword and whispered in Sirius ears, and she felt Sirius stiffen beside her at his words. She had just grasped what Regulus had said and she tightened her grip on Sirius hand as she felt sorrow rise up inside her, his words echoing around her mind.

"_I want the friends." _

Regulus leaned back and turned his back on the Gryffindor's. He stopped at Hermione's wand, and kicked it lightly with the tip of his boot.

"Take your wand, Kingsley," He said, his back still to them and he shoved his hands in his pockets. "You'll need it,"

"What do you mean I'll need it?" She shouted, letting go of Sirius' hands and stepping foreword, but Regulus was making his way through the chaos at the Entrance of the hall and Hermione sighed nervously, chewing on her lip. She bent down and scooped up her wand, putting it back up the sleeve of her robe, where it belonged.

_Okay, I am so sorry I haven't updated in like, forever. My aim was once a week and I haven't updated in about a month. I have no excuse at all, I just totally forgot but I have seen the error of my ways and I __will__ update! If not, I give you permission to yell at me for my incompetence. On the plus side, my friend Olivia is getting married in two weeks time! Whoop! I cant wait!_

_Anyways, here's Regulus. He'll be very important to the story so I thought I'd better introduce him. I know, its not the best chapter and Regulus is a little OCC, but he wont be for more of the story._

_Again, I'm so sorry for the long wait!_

_xxx_

_Kelly_


	15. Allergic to the library?

**Disclaimer: **_I don't own Harry Potter…Sigh…_

**Weight of the World **

**Chapter 15**

2nd November 1977

"James! What in the world are you doing?" Lily asked, laughing, being pulled along by the hand as James ran up flights of stairs and along corridors, his footfalls echoing.

"Taking you somewhere," James replied, taking a sharp left which made Lily squeal when she nearly skidded into the wall.

"Be careful, Lily!" James jokingly scolded her, sparring her a glance over his shoulder.

"Seriously, James, where are we going?" Lily asked, tugging back on her hand, trying to get James to free it and let her go.

"What part of 'surprise' don't you understand?" James asked, but he slowed down, for Lily's sake, walking a normal person's speed.

"The part where you're running at the speed of light, dragging me behind you!" Lily giggled, resting her head lightly on James' shoulder. She could hardly believe that they were together, after so many years of hating James, she was actually his girlfriend now. "You gonna tell me where we're going?" She asked, tilting her head and resting her chin on his shoulder, her green eyes staring imploringly into his hazel ones.

"Nope." He said happily, a grin adorning his face; Lily sighed in frustration.

"Fine," she said, letting her head slide down until her cheek was pressed against his collarbone and he wound his arm around her waist. She found that she was perfectly content this way and she smiled lightly, letting one of her hands rest by her face on his chest and she was slightly amazed that they were still walking.

"Were here," he whispered and she regretfully moved from him, glancing to see a tapestry with trolls trying to ballet.

"James…This is the seventh corridor…Not that exciting." She said, expecting something of a 'wow factor'.

"I'm not done, Lily," James said, and he stepped foreword, walking backwards and forewords in front of the tapestry, muttering something under his breath. Lily crossed her arms and leaned against the wall opposite, wondering briefly if James had gone mental, or if he started reading the Quibbler.

"James, come on, what are you do—" she was cut off when the tapestry turned into a set of double oak doors with brass handles. She stared in wonder at the door that appeared and when James took her hand, she let him lead her to the doors and he grasped a handle in his hand and yanked it open, pulling her past the threshold.

"Behold, Lily, the magic of the room of requirement!" The door banged shut behind them, but Lily paid it no heed. She was mesmerized by the sight of the water fountain standing in front of her, the water sprinkling merrily out of the faucet. There was a huge tree with a wooden two seater swing attached to the chains bolted to the bottom branch and it was slowly swinging back and forth. There was a blanket spread out on the grass floor with a basket sat on top of it, and Lily was amazed and she instantly fell in love. She turned and threw her arms around James, her lips hitting his with wild abandonment which he returned.

"So, I'm guessing you liked the surprise?" James asked after he broke the kiss, slightly out of breath.

"Oh, I liked the surprise. Very much." She whispered, leaning into him.

"Race you to the swing!" He shouted, jumping away from her and running full pelt to the swing. Lily gazed at him with annoyance before she giggled, remembering that this was James Potter, and she ran after him, easily catching him up and she quickly overtook him, though she suspected that he let her.

She jumped onto the swing and stuck her tongue out at James. He stuck his tongue back out and stepped between her legs and grasping the metal chain with one hand, the other leaning on the seat beside Lily's thighs.

"What's my prize?" Lily asked, leaning closer to James. He smiled and swung away from her, jumping into the seat next to her.

"You don't get one," he said, swinging his legs, letting the swing pick up momentum.

"You know that you're on the wrong side, don't you?" Lily asked, turning her head to look at him and he raised his eyebrow in confusion. "You're supposed to face the other way," Lily gestured with her head, but James scoffed and carried on moving his legs.

"I don't think so," he said simply, running a hand through his messy black hair, "no way in Hell, thanks."

Lily giggled and turned so her legs were on either side of the swing and her back was against the chain.

"You know, James Potter, I think I was right in asking you out," Lily said, moving closer to him.

"Yeah, I had you chasing me in the end," he said cockily, grinning at her. She playfully smacked him on the arm and he grabbed her hand, pulling her onto his lap, and they both toppled off the swing. James was suspended above her, grinning like a Cheshire cat. He bent down and pressed his lips to hers and Lily sighed into the kiss, deciding that he was the best kisser that she had ever kissed. When they first kissed it was clumsy, out of control and not that much fun. Now, his kisses were…Well, for lack of a better word, perfect. "At least we confirmed our relationship last night," James said, falling to the side, propping his head up on his hand.

"Oh, you mean when you hauled me up from my seat on the soft arm chair, and proceeded to make out with me in a drunken state watched by everyone from Gryffindor and Olivia and Morgan?" She asked sarcastically, turning onto her own side taking his hand and interlacing their fingers.

"Yeah, I mean then," he winked at her and she laughed. When she was with James, she forgot all about stress and being perfect and just laughed. She loved that. "What can I say? You're just so irresistible, I can't help myself."

"Uh-huh," Lily said, raising her eyebrow.

"You are!" James persisted and Lily smiled at him, shuffling closer.

"You know, the food in that picnic basket is calling to me," Lily said, getting up and dusting herself down. "Lets eat!"

*****

"Where's James?" Peter asked, dropping into the arm chair, his watery eyes glancing around the common room,

"With Lily," Remus answered, using his wand to sweep up the streamers suspended from the ceiling. The Gryffindor's had had a party last night to celebrate Halloween and Olivia and Morgan's engagement as, despite being Ravenclaw's, they were made honorary Gryffindor's so all parties were hosted at the Gryffindor tower.

"Where's that?" Peter asked.

"Err…Room of Requirement I think, Peter," Remus said, sitting on the couch next to Sirius, who was busy trying to build a house of exploding cards.

"Wormtail, I think that you should go to the kitchens and get us some grub," Sirius said, not looking as he stuck his tongue out in concentration.

"Oh…Um…Well, I was going to do my Transfiguration homework," Peter said, opening the bag at his feet.

"Ahh, don't be silly, Peter. Might as well get some food in you or you wont be able to do anything!" Sirius said, placing another two cards delicately on top of the other cards, and he moved his hand hesitantly, hoping that the cards wouldn't explode and singe his eyebrows off.

"I suppose…" Peter said and sighed, closing his bag again, "I guess I'll be going," he said and stood, waiting for a indication from Sirius and Remus that they'd heard him, but they were seemingly involved with building the house of cards to pay attention to him, and he ran his hand through his light brown hair and left, not impressed in the amount of rejection he was getting from his friends.

He made it to the kitchen in record time and got the usual amount of chocolate and goodies, piling them all up in his arms and making his way back to Gryffindor tower, his concentration on making sure the sweets didn't tumble to the floor.

He didn't see the Slytherin's ahead of him.

Somebody roughly banged into him and he fell, his burden spilling all over the corridor, hunks of chocolate rolling away, cupcakes being squished and cookies breaking into pieces. Peter frowned and looked up to see Eric Crawler, Haydn Westwood and Iain Watts glaring down at him, the seventh year Slytherin's eyes glowering with menace and Peter gulped, knowing that he was by himself with no Sirius, Remus or James to protect him.

"Well, lookie, lookie here! We got ourselves a rat," Crawler said, crouching beside Peter's fallen form. "Where's the rest of your jokester mates?" Crawler smirked, his dark blue hair spiked up, his blue eyes showing distaste.

"Probably left this here dork to fend for himself," Watts said, running a hand threw his black hair, his other hand shoved into his trouser pocket.

"What glorious friends you have!" Crawler said sarcastically, standing up and circling Peter, getting behind him, while he laid there, helpless. "They won't even help you get the food. You're like their errand boy." He sneered.

Peter scrunched his eyes shut, trying to pretend what they were saying wasn't true, but really he knew it was. They didn't care for him, just used him for their own means and he hated it, hated it so much and he wished they would just go away so he could make his own friends. They weren't even supportive of his crushes, that's how brilliant friends they were.

"Come on," Haydn Westwood said, folding his robes over his arm and turning on his heel, turning his back on Peter, "lets leave this loser alone to stew in his own uselessness." The Slytherin boys laughed and Eric Crawler picked up a bun with chocolate topping and he smashed it in his face, throwing it down on him before walking off, sniggering loudly and suggesting to his gang what exactly he was going to do to his girlfriend, Eleanor Tenure tonight in his room.

Peter snuffled and slowly standing up, leaning against the wall and thinking of the Slytherin's harsh words, letting them wash over him, knowing that they were mostly right and they weren't his friends.

He was their lackey.

*****

"Come on, Rayne, what's wrong with him? Is he really, really ugly?" Olivia asked, dropping onto the floor beside Rayne, shoulder to shoulder. They were sat outside the Gryffindor Common Room and Rayne was the least bit impressed.

"No," she sniffed, "he's actually okay looking, with wavy blonde hair and big blue eyes and he's all lanky and tall," Olivia's mouth turned down in distaste, that not being her preferred choice of men, but she shrugged and turned her attention back to Rayne.

"So what's the problem?" Olivia put her arm around Rayne's shoulders, her engagement ring glinting on her hand.

"He's ten years older, Olivia! That's not right! I'll never be able to marry anyone else, and…God, he's ten years older!" Rayne yelled in outrage and punched the floor with a curled fist.

"Okay, I admit that's slightly weird, but push his age aside for just a minute and look at the man underneath." Olivia started, squeezing Rayne's shoulder, "you've met him, right?" Rayne nodded and leaned further against Olivia. "Well then, you've talked to him," Rayne nodded again, a frown of confusion on her face, wondering where this was going. "So get to know him. You might be surprised at the guy underneath the age," Olivia kissed Rayne on the temple and stood up, brushing her white jacket down and the black of her black skirt, bending down to grab the top of her blue and bronze stripy socks, pulling them over her knees. "Well, I'm off to go find my man," Olivia winked and wondered off down the corridor.

"Where the hell is Peter? I sent him off for food a while ago," Sirius said, climbing out of the portrait, "he should be back by now," Sirius said, slight worry emitting from his voice.

"Yeah, he should have been back ages ago," Remus said, following in Sirius' wake.

"You've lost Peter?" Rayne asked, wiping her nose quickly with her sleeve, standing up from her place on the floor.

"No, we haven't lost Peter," Sirius said, turning to look at Rayne, "we just seem to have…misplaced him," he finished lately, rubbing the back of his head nervously.

"You _misplaced _him?" Rayne asked sarcastically, shaking her head. "Good look finding him," and with a quick, bored wave she left them to it, entering the common room and setting to her room, intending to write a long letter to Xenophilius to meet up again.

She was gonna take Olivia's advice and let the man underneath the age shine through.

*****

Olivia sashayed through the corridors, her high heels clacking on the hard floor, echoing around her as she hummed under her breath. She was coming back from The Owlery where she had send a letter to her sister, telling her of her engagement and ask her how her second pregnancy was going. Her sister would be ecstatic for her and her brother-in-law would shake his head at her as he was fond of Sirius and didn't really care for Morgan. Well, boo-hoo to him as it was her choice and she loved Morgan, loved him enough to take that physical step that she hadn't been comfortable taking with Sirius.

She sighed and decided to take a detour to the kitchens as she had a serious case of the munchies and she had a craving for chocolate cake.

She let her thoughts wonder back to fifth year, when she and Sirius were an item. A part of her really missed those days, the times of sneaking off after hours to play Quidditch and traipse of to the kitchens, skipping lessons to lounge about outside and sitting at the Gryffindor table all the time, without being told to move. But then she thinks of Morgan and she knows that she did the right thing breaking up with Sirius. She had Morgan now, and Sirius, one day would get Hermione. It was a sure in deal, and if not, he had seriously missed a chance.

She was so immersed in her thoughts that she didn't see Peter curled up against the wall and stopped herself in time so that she didn't fall to the floor.

"Peter! Why are you in the middle of the floor?" Olivia asked, crouching down beside him, placing her hand on his shoulder. "Did you fall over?" Her palms grasped his cheeks and pulled his head up and she was saddened to see the chocolate spread across his face. "Slytherin's?" she guessed, but Peter didn't say anything and instead, he jumped up and ran down the corridor, his hands covering his face and Olivia watched him go sadly. "Oh, that boy is on the edge," she said to herself taking her wand out of her jacket and, with a wave of her wand, the spilled chocolate and cookies disappeared, leaving no trace of the incident that had happened here.

*****

"Peter!" Sirius yelled, cupping his hands around his mouth for maximum volume.

"Peter!" Remus joined in, a frown settling on his face. "This is not good. Were in the world could he be?"

"He's not in the kitchens, the Great Hall, the Entrance Hall, the Owlery or in any of the secret passages!" Sirius said, throwing his arms up in outrage. "Where in the world of Merlin's beard could he be?"

"The library is the only place that we haven't looked where he could be," Remus said, turning on his heel and heading in the direction of the library.

"The library? I ain't going to the library, Remus, I'm allergic to it!" Sirius said, running up behind him. He sounded like he was in slight distress.

"You're not allergic to the library, Sirius, you've never been in there."

"Exactly!" Sirius said, "whenever I go past it, I go red," Sirius dug around in his pocket and brought out a bag of Bertie Botts every flavoured beans.

"Come on, Sirius," Remus stomped his foot like a child, "you might as well take a glance inside. Hermione will most likely be in there," Remus bribed, hoping that that would be enough to get Sirius to go in there.

Sirius' eyes narrowed and he sighed, his body sagging slightly in defeat and he stomped his own foot.

"Don't be such a baby, Sirius," Remus slid his hand into the bag and grabbed a handful of every flavoured beans.

"Oi! My beans!" Sirius said, holding the bag close to his chest. Remus laughed and sauntered off to the Library, Sirius close behind him.

*****

Hermione was sat at her table in the library, scribbling out a first draft for her transfiguration essay when the doors banged open, causing her to whip her head up and narrow her eyes in that direction.

"Shhh!" Madam Pince harshly whispered, glaring at the boy who had come in, "Mr. Snape! You know better then that!"

Snape shrugged in what could be seen as apology and made his way to Hermione's table.

"Why are you still sitting at my table, Kingsley?" He snapped, lifting his bag off his shoulder and letting it slam onto the table, receiving another glare from Madam Pince, "you know that this is my table."

"I'm not moving for you," Hermione said, going back to her essay. Snape scoffed and pulled back his chair, dropping into it and getting his own transfiguration book out of his bag.

They worked in silence for thirty minutes, Hermione finishing her first draft and starting on her second one.

"Okay, Kingsley, I've got questions and you're gonna give me answers," Snape said, breaking the silence and Hermione laughed under her breath, not intending to tell him anything.

"What year are you from?" He asked, but the only answer he received was the scratching of a quill as Hermione continued to write her essay.

"Didn't you hear me? I asked you a question, Kingsley, and I suggest you answer it," Hermione was suddenly taken back to the potions classroom in 1997 and for a minute she thought that she was looking at Professor Snape and his voice chilled her to the bone.

"I heard you," she said curtly, finishing her second draft and, deciding that it was perfect ,she scribbled her name at the bottom of the parchment and rolled it up, tying it quickly with a red ribbon.

"So answer me!" He said, sounding annoyed, but his body language didn't convey his feelings.

"No," she answered simply, standing up and throwing her bag over her shoulder and was about to turn to leave the library, when Snape's hand shot out and grabbed a hold of her wrist, making her unable to leave without causing a scene.

"Answer me." He hissed and Hermione sighed in resignation, she really didn't want to do this.

"Or what?" She challenged and she knew that instantly that she should never have issued that challenge when his eyes narrowed.

"Right, well, everyone will know about your predicament. You don't wonder why I haven't told anyone? Merlin, Kingsley, you are as stupid as you look! I have you wrapped around my finger, and you know it." He sneered and Hermione felt hopelessness settle in her stomach, and dread fill her heart. "I'll let you off on this occasion, but next time I ask you a question, you _will _answer it, or your little boyfriend will be getting an owl post the next day informing him of your interesting predicament."

Hermione's blood ran cold at his threat when the doors burst opened and Remus walked in, followed hesitantly by Sirius, who looked rather nervous.

"I expected better of you, really. I mean, you're a no-good Gryffindor, but I thought you had some brains," Snape shook his head and collected his items, watching Remus and Sirius out of the corner of his eyes.

"Hermione!" Remus said happily, sparing Snape a look of loathing while Sirius found himself quite content just glaring daggers at him. "Have you seen Peter?" Remus asked, raising his eyebrows in questioning.

"Go on, Snape, get out of here," Sirius grabbed Snape by the collar of his robes and pulled him bodily from his seat.

"Sirius! Stop it!" Hermione found herself saying, latching onto Sirius' bicep and his closed fist around Snape's robes and prized it away.

"What? You're sticking up for the sneaky Slytherin?" Sirius asked, bewildered.

"He didn't do anything, Sirius, you're just bullying him!" She said, hitting him across the chest, but before he could retaliate, Madam Pince rounded the corner, her eyes seemed as if they were on fire.

"How dare you disrupt the serenity of this library! Get out of here at once!" And she chased them out, brandishing a 900 page novel above her head.

"See, Remus!" Sirius exploded when they were safe around the corner, "that's why I don't go to the library!"

"Never mind that, Sirius!" Remus said, spinning in circles, "where's Hermione?"

"Great! Now we're missing her as well!"

_A/N: Okay, here's chapter fifteen! I just wanted you all to know what the other characters were up to and how their stories are getting along and how Peter is turned against his friends._

_Thanks for reading!_

_Xxx_

_Kelly_


	16. What are you afraid of? Part 2

**Disclaimer: **_Harry Potter is not mine. _

**Weight of the World **

**Chapter 16**

3rd November 1977

Hermione was sat at the Gryffindor table that morning, biting into an apple and glancing about the Hall. Olivia and Morgan were sat at the Ravenclaw table, along with another girl with a red cap on her head with a green 'C' stitched onto it. The Hufflepuff's in her year were all clustered around Aaron Schindler, who, for lack of a better term, was very flamboyant and today, he wore a charcoal grey hat with a yellow strip of fabric around the brim and a grey waistcoat over his white shirt, his yellow and black tie tucked into it. The twin girls, Charlotte and Leona, were giggling to each other, staring across the room at a Slytherin boy, that Hermione learned was called Haydn Westwood. Haydn Westwood, as far as she knew, was probably the worst Slytherin ever. He had remained neutral throughout the first war, refusing to take either side, but in the end, just before the death of James and Lily, he had conformed and decided that it would be best to join the Order. However, he had got drunk at the Three Broomsticks and proceeded to tell everyone that he was switching alliances and he was killed down the back alley with a simple _Avada Kadavra_. It was a shame really, as he actually was quite attractive, with his red hair and big blue eyes, she was half-reminded of Ron. She noticed that Severus sat away from the other Slytherin's and he looked on disgusted at Eric Crawler and Eleanor Tenure making out.

"Alright, Hermione?" Megara asked from across from her, leaning her arm onto the table, her other hand reaching for the banana's.

"Yeah, I'm good." Hermione smiled tightly at Megara and watched as she peeled the banana. "You?"

"I'm just peachy," she said sarcastically, throwing the peel to the floor and laying the banana down on her plate, getting a blunt knife from beside her plate and cut the top and bottom off before cutting it in half.

"Well, what's wrong?" Hermione asked, taking another bite of her apple. Megara frowned and stabbed the banana, repeatedly.

"Sirius bloody Black, that's what's wrong!" She growled and Hermione found that all her attention was riveted on Megara once again.

"What's he done?"

"Oh, all last night! Yap, yap, yap, yap none stop for about four hours! Where did you go, anyways? He was complaining that he couldn't find you and that he's allergic to the library." She yawned and stretched her arms over her head, "seriously, he kept my downstairs, yaking, till about midnight." Hermione smiled slightly and shook her head, taking another bite of her apple.

"Sorry, Megara, I went to the Astronomy tower." Hermione explained, putting down her apple and picking up a short bread biscuit, slightly surprised when Megara spluttered into her coffee.

"Merlin's beard! Seriously?" She asked, her eyes widening to the size of saucers. "Who the devil with?"

Hermione frowned in confusion, having no idea what Megara was talking about. She'd been so angered by Snape's threats towards her and Sirius bullying Snape for no reason that she couldn't go back to the Gryffindor Common Room where he would be there, so when Madam Pince chased them from the library, instead of following Remus and Sirius, she chose instead to go straight ahead, through the door hidden behind the tapestry of imps and head for the Astronomy tower, where she knew she would be able to sit down and think logically about her predicament, but she found herself unable to come up with anything, her thoughts taking on the form of one boy and one boy alone.

"Err.." But before she could answer, The Marauders traipsed into the Great Hall.

"Where the hell did you go?" Sirius asked, sitting down next to Megara opposite Hermione, "you just vanished!"

"At least you found Peter," James supplied, piling bacon onto his plate.

"Shut it, Potter, you were no help what-so-ever," Remus said, following James' lead and piling his plate with food, although he decided to go for sausages.

"What? I was entertaining Lily," James shrugged, not even bothering to look up everybody else.

Hermione glanced at Peter, who was sat quietly, staring at his food, sat next to Remus. Remus seemed to notice and elbowed him lightly; he jerked his head up and smiled hesitantly, but Hermione saw that the smile didn't reach his eyes and she felt a small pang of what could only be described as sympathy for him. He couldn't have always been the backstabbing fiend he is now, and something must have happened to change that.

"She went to the Astronomy tower!" Megara yelled and smiled when Sirius, James and Remus choked on their food.

"Who with?" They all chorused and Hermione groaned in frustration.

"Nobody!" She said exasperated and she glanced at Sirius to see that he looked really hurt. "Seriously, nobody." She confirmed, looking at Sirius right in his eyes, "I just went there to think. Why does everybody think I went to the astronomy tower with somebody?"

"You went to the astronomy tower with somebody?" Rayne asked, sitting down in the seat next to her while Kara sat opposite, sending a confused look Hermione's way.

"No, I did not!" Hermione was getting frustrated now, and she knew that it was coming out in her tone, but she couldn't help it. Rayne shrugged at her and grabbed a pancake, watching as Thoma walked into the Great Hall.

"Oh, it looks like Hermione wasn't the only one to visit to Astronomy tower last night!" Rayne talked around the fork shoved into her mouth. The others sniggered and Hermione saw Thoma place a kiss on Matthew Young's temple. The other seven year Gryffindor's watched as they talked quietly, before separating, their hands untangling as they made their way to their separate houses. The second that Matthew sat down next to Morgan he was bombarded with questions and the look of trepidation on Thoma's face meant that she was expecting the same treatment.

"Oh, my God, when did this happen?" Rayne squealed. Thoma was not wrong.

"Yesterday." She sighed, reaching for the cornflakes.

"How?" Kara asked, dipping her chocolate biscuit into a glass of milk.

"He asked me out," Thoma answered, grabbing a spoon.

"How?" Lily asked, sliding into the seat next to Hermione, quickly putting her tie on. Hermione stared at her in silence for a second, wondering why she had overslept, and a sneaky glance sent James' way answered Hermione's question.

"He said 'Thoma, will you go out with me?' and then I said 'yes,' end of story," She stood up, taking a final spoon full of her cereal and grabbing her bag, throwing it over her robes and Hermione saw that, instead of the black skirt or trousers that she was supposed to wear, she had on denim shorts, black and white stripy tights and brown boots with fur on the top. "Come on, or we'll be late for DADA!"

The others glanced at each other in confusion and Rayne looked at her watch to see that they had ten minutes until they had to even think about getting to lesson, but Thoma took off, speeding out of the Great Hall and Matthew looked up, his blue eyes shining as he stood up and followed after her, not being very subtle about it at all.

The sound of flapping wings had Hermione looking up and she was relieved to see a swarm of owls fly into the great hall, although she didn't see a single snowy owl among them and she missed Hedwig's place among the other plain, ordinary owls.

"Great, mails here!" Rayne said excitedly, glancing up at the owls as they criss-crossed across the students, dropping packages and letters in front of their owners.

"What are you waiting for?" Sirius inquired, glancing up as well at the array of feathers above them.

"Err…A letter." She said dismissively and she clapped her hands in delight when a tawny owl dropped a letter in front of her.

"Who's that from?" Lily asked, and Hermione saw a owl with two different coloured eyes swooping out of the Great Hall via the doors and raised a eyebrow in questioning.

"It's Thoma's owl," Lily informed her, "hers is the only owl that I've seen actually do that."

"You can have more then one pet?" Hermione asked, leaning her head on her hand, propped up by her elbow.

"Nope. Cherry is technically Rayne's, but she hates all living things that aren't people, so she gave it to Thoma." Hermione nodded in understanding and glanced up at Sirius, hoping that he was looking somewhere else, but was flushed with embarrassment to see that he was looking directly at her.

"OLIVIA MARIE WINCHESTER!" Every head in the great hall whipped around to see a red envelope floating in front of Olivia, who looked confused, scared and amused. "AFTER 10 MONTHS! 10 MONTHS ARE YOU'RE ENGAGED! HOW VERY IMMATURE OF YOU! AND YOU!!" The envelope turned to Morgan, who just looked terrified, "SIRIUS WOULD NEVER HAVE PULLED THIS STUNT WITH MY DAUGHTER, AND I HOPE YOU KNOW THAT IF YOU SO MUCH AS HURT A SINGLE HAIR ON HER HEAD, ME, HER FATHER, HER SISTER, HER BROTHER AND HER BROTHER-IN-LAW WILL HUNT YOU DOWN! OLIVIA, IF I FIND OUT THAT YOU'RE PREGNANT NEXT, DON'T THINK ABOUT TURNING UP FOR CHRISTMAS!"

The red envelope tore itself up, the fallen pieces turning to ash before they hit the table and the entire place was filled with a stony silence, the shrill voice of Olivia's mother still leaving muted aftershocks around the hall.

Olivia sat in silence, turning at the pieces left before the girl with the red hat with a green 'C' on the front leaned across the table.

"You're not pregnant, are you?" Olivia stared at her in shock before bursting into laughter, shaking her head in mirth. Hermione glanced around her friends to see that Sirius had a smile on his face, James looked amused, Lily was chuckling and Kara was biting her lip, trying to hide her laughter. Rayne beside her was reading her letter with such a pace that rivalled even Hermione's reading speed and Meg was looking at the mushed banana in front of her, staring sadly at the fruit now squashed and uneatable.

Still, Hermione thought as they gathered their stuff to go to DADA, she could have used a straw and drank it like a milkshake.

*****

"Okay, class!" Quinton shouted at the Gryffindor and Slytherin students as they piled into the classroom, "remember this?" he gestured to the closet in front of the class and Sirius frowned, remembering when the Boggart had taken on his fear of the unknown, rendering itself invisible so that Sirius was unable to determine where it was or what it was doing or who it could hurt. He shook his head, hoping that he wouldn't have to face it again. "Those of you who faced it last lesson, Odette, Eric, Rayne, Sirius and James, you can sit this lesson out. Either stay here or go for this lesson, it's your choice."

Sirius was staying. His reasons were totally selfish, but he really wanted to see what Hermione's fear was. He glanced at James to see that he had hopped up onto a desk and Sirius followed suit, his legs swinging backwards and forewords as he leaned back, his hands supporting his weight behind him.

"Okay, lets go! Euphoria!" Euphoria Ingleton stepped foreword, sweeping her light brown back into a quick ponytail and she raised her wand to face her Boggart, which turned into a giant spider. Sirius yawned and watched as Euphoria made jazz music come on and the giant spider dance to it, which Sirius had to admit, was quite comical.

"Brilliant! Couldn't have done it better myself!" Quinton laughed, dancing along with the Jazz record. "Lily!"

Beside him, he felt James stiffen and when the Boggart took one look at Lily, it transformed quickly, the colours blurring together until a girl of about nineteen stood there, with blonde hair and the longest neck that Sirius had ever seen.

"_Freak!"_ She spat at Lily, who recoiled slightly into herself. James hopped off the desk and made to go to her, but Quinton stopped him with a hand on his chest, holding him back.

"_I cant believe that I'm related to such a freak! Honestly, why are you a part of this family? You're not normal, Lily, you and your freaky friends are better off dead then on my doorstop!"_

Quinton stepped foreword at this point, stepping in front of Lily and the Boggart turned into Quinton's fear of frogs and he pulled the same trick last time, making it fill with air like a balloon and letting all the air out while Lily ran into James, who wrapped his arms around her and consoled her, running his hands up and down her back and whispering soothing words to her.

"I know this lesson can be painful, as there are some fears that are just to deep to be made comical, as I'm sure Mr Potter and Miss Evans will tell you." James tightened his grip around Lily and Sirius looked down sadly. "Never the less, we must continue with this lesson. I gave you a break after the last incident, but we cant keep hiding forever. Come on, Haydn, your next."

The students had a mixture of fears, raging from puppets to shadows to family members dying. Some were able to repel the fear and change them into a situation of humour, but others, like Meg, where unable to do so and she broke down in sobs at the sight of her whole family laid out on front of her, slaughtered. Even Snape's hit Sirius hard, his abusive father hitting his mother again and again until she laid still, her eyes open and glassy, staring at the class with blood seeping behind her head. He had managed to repel the Boggart, but everyone was so solemn and depressed from this lesson that no-one really felt like laughing.

Finally, it was Hermione's turn.

She stepped foreword and Sirius briefly wondered, in his mind, what her fear could actually be and to him it could be something to do with the war or her friends dying or even herself dead.

_Crack!_

Sirius was very surprised indeed to see James dead on the floor, glasses asked on his face and blood running from his temple. The sight stopped Sirius cold and James frowned in confusion, keeping Lily's head turned away, tucked safely into the crook of his neck.

_Crack!_

The body now laid in front of her was a tall ginger boy with blue eyes and jeans that were to short for him.

_Crack!_

A girl who had flaming red hair was now laid dead in front of Hermione and Sirius assumed that he was right in his thoughts that her fear was seeing her friends dead.

_Crack!_

A girl who looked like Rayne appeared, with raddish earrings and a corkscrew necklace was no starring at the ceiling.

_Crack!_

Identical twins were laying side by side, blood splattered all over them, heads not laid quite right on their necks as if they'd been broken.

Hermione was reduced to sobs, but she held her wand up defiantly, speaking the incantation loud and clear, but when nothing happened except a couple with brown hair and brown eyes appeared dead before her, whom Sirius assumed was Hermione's parents, Hermione seemed to have lost it and she backed up, as if that would help her escape the Bogart.

"_Now, now, mudblood. You think you can hide from me?"_ A bone chilling voice descended on the class and Sirius decided that enough was enough and he hopped off the table, heading straight for Hermione, intending to pull her away form the horrible scene and into his arms. _"You're forgetting one important thing..."_

The bodies on the floor rose and were suspended in the air before they swirled together, their bodies joining together and forming a single body which was as thin as a skeleton, bones protruding through the translucent skin. His eyes were slits in his face, like a cats and a dark scarlet in colour, his nose was flat, like a snakes and his fingers were unnaturally long, resembling spiders legs, clutching a wand that seemed to be made of bone.

"_I am Lord Voldemort!" _It hissed the lipless mouth moving as the words were uttered and Hermione's wand fell to the floor, defeated.

The class gasped and Sirius pushed foreword, his arms circling Hermione's waist and pulling her back against his chest, but she struggled, shouting, screaming at the figure before them.

"How dare you?! We will never give in you evil, useless piece of—"

"Hermione!" Sirius called, twisting their bodies around so that his back was facing the figure and he heard some students scream and he glanced over his shoulder, holding Hermione so close to him, she was clutching his arms, hunched over, sobbing.

He saw Quinton standing in front of the Boggart, but it didn't change, its eyes fixated on Hermione.

"Riddikulus!" Quinton shouted and the Boggart fell back and when it sprang back up, it had taken on the form of a giant frog. "Sirius, get Hermione out of here!"

Sirius didn't need to be told twice and, with his grip around Hermione's waist, he pushed her foreword, desperately trying to get her away.

"Come on, sweetheart, lesson's over for you," he whispered in her ear, threading one arm underneath her knees, the other under her shoulders and he hoisted her up into his arms, making the journey quicker for the both of them.

He hated seeing her like this, his heart slamming against his ribs furiously and he cradled her closer, wondering if she had seen He-who-must-not-be-named in person, or if that's what she imagined him to look like. If she had encountered him and if those figures before hand, of all the people, if that had actually happened; if he had massacred her family and friends and that was the real reason that she was here.

"Here we go," he mumbled quietly, stepping behind a tapestry and sitting her down in the passageway and he sat down next to her, wrapping his right arm around her shoulders and his left hand settled on her waist, pulling her close. "Shush, its okay, love, it's okay, I promise, I'm here, I won't let anything happen to you…" He continued to sooth her, her cries penetrating his heart, causing him to pull her even closer, his hand going to the back of her head, stroking her hair, hoping that that comforts her, her forehead pressed into his neck.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, "I'm falling to pieces over something that wasn't even really there."

"Hey," he said, quietly, moving her back slightly, "you have nothing to be sorry for. That was generally scary." He decided that he wouldn't pry her for answers yet and that she just needed to be comforted right now. They sat in silence for a few more minutes, Sirius resting his cheek on her hair, inhaling her scent that was uniquely hers.

"Sirius?" Her voice piped up and Sirius 'hmm-ed' in question, not wanting from his position beside her. "Go out with me?"

He moved his head back and stared at her out of slate grey eyes, boring into her chocolate brown ones, still wet with her tears.

"Are you serious?" He asked, slightly taken aback by her straight foreword approach. She shrugged and tucked her head back where his neck met his shoulder.

"Yeah," Hermione whispered, placing a kiss on his neck and Sirius let his head fall back against the stone wall. Both ignored the chatter and pounding of footsteps as lesson was over and students made their way to next lesson, but as both Hermione and Sirius had a free, they didn't bother to move. "This is my life now, I know that. No more Harry, no more Ron…You only live once," she whispered against his skin and he closed his eyes as her wet lips moved, causing goose bumps to raise on his flesh, "I cant always be scared."

"No," he said hoarsely, using the hand behind her head to pull her head back, exposing her lips, "you very well can't." And he kissed her.

Yeah, they'd kissed before, but this kiss was different. It wasn't rough and fast, it was slow, tender and they took their time. He massaged his lips with hers, cupping her jaw and tipping her head back even further while he hunched slightly to make up the height difference between them. She raised her arms and wrapped them around his neck, pulling him even closer and he felt bursts of hot air from her nose against his cheek as she breathed out and became slightly smug when it got faster, as she lost her breath.

He broke the kiss, titling his head to the other side and descended on her lips once again, massaging them once again, before his tongue came out, creeping past the hard wall of his teeth and slowly tracing her lips. She moaned so quietly that Sirius wasn't sure that she had done it, but he stopped wondering when her tongue entered his mouth and he felt a groan of his own tear from his chest.

He felt warmness creeping up his body, warming the tips of his fingers and the bottom of his feet and after that the kiss turned fiery and hungry and Sirius broke the kiss to rain kisses down her neck and across her jaw, behind her ear and over her cheeks. He pulled her closer so she was atop him, straddling his hips and she titled her head to the side to grant him more access.

"So," she breathed out, "I take that as a yes?"

_A/N: Ahhhhh!! They're together at long last _

_Thanks for the reviews!_

_Kelly_

_xxx_


	17. Future decisions

**Disclaimer: **_I don't own._

**Weight of the World**

**Chapter 17**

4th November 1977

The next morning, Sirius pranced into the Great Hall, happier then he'd been in a long time in the early hours of the morning.

"Good morning!" He shouted, jumping up onto the bench of the Gryffindor's table, arms and legs spread wide in greeting. "What a brilliant day!" He jumped off the bench, sitting astride it instead, facing Hermione who was looking very amused with his antics. He leaned foreword and kissed her on the lips, firm enough to linger, but not firm enough to turn into anything more. Around them, the whole Hall gasped.

"Well, we've created a stir, haven't we?" Sirius said, listening to the rising chatter of the students and watched as some pointed and jabbed in their direction. He caught Morgan's eyes, who raised his eyebrow and Sirius knew that he was happy for them.

"Hermione!" Lily screeched across the table, "why didn't you tell us?" Kara beside her grabbed her arm, her brown eyes shining in questioning.

"How?" Thoma asked, dropping her uneaten toast on her plate.

"When?" Rayne jumped in, dribbling a bit of coffee on her red and gold jumper.

"Why?" Megara asked, looking genuinely confused. Sirius noticed that her grey cardigan had been tied under her breasts, lifting them up. Hey, he wasn't a free agent anymore, but he still had eyes. By the sharp elbow in his solar plexus, he deduced that Hermione had eyes as well, eyes that saw his looking.

He smiled sheepishly at her and she smirked, leaning foreword to answer her friends questions in chronological answer. He tuned the noises out and just watched Hermione talk, her hand actions accenting what she was saying, moving through the air with speed. Her hair was down and a messy as ever, uncontrollable, just like her. She had thrown on a grey cardigan over her white school shirt and had rolled both sleeves up to reveal her creamy forearms, which he can honestly say he never noticed on any girl before, not even Olivia.

"Great, so, me and Kara are now the only free Girl Gryffindor seventh years, and we've been here way longer then Herm!" Meg said, throwing her arms up, "unbelievable!"

"Er…Actually…" Kara mumbled, moving her fork around her plate, refusing to look up at anyone, "that isn't strictly true…"

"How many lesbians are they at this school?" Lily asked, grabbing James' hand and linking fingers. Sirius reached across Hermione, making sure to lean into her side as he grabbed a tangerine.

"Kara!" Summer Phillips appeared and dropped onto the other side of Kara, wrapped her arms around her waist and pulled her across the bench into her side and her lips descended on Kara's and Sirius could not pull his eyes away from the sight in front of him. He had always found Kara attractive and Summer and her three sisters were drop dead hot.

"This is shaping up to be a pretty good Friday," James said happily, only to receive a smack around the back of his head from Lily.

"Come on, we gotta go," Lily said, standing up, throwing her bag over her shoulder and storming off.

"Damn," James whispered and Kara and Summer broke their kiss.

"Summer! What the hell?" Her sisters appeared and Sirius realised that he'd never seen all four girls together at once, and decided that it was slightly eerie. Especially when they all happened to be wearing the same style uniform and headbands, just in their house colours.

"That's our cue to go," Remus suggested, running an eye over the closest quad, which happened to be Wynter.

"Don't you wanna stay and watch?" Peter asked, then blushed when he realised how dirty those words sounded, and he stood, silently saying that he agreed with Remus. Sirius grinned and grabbed Hermione's head, their palms touching, heat spreading through his fingers.

"Divination, here we come," James muttered sarcastically, leading the way out of the Great Hall and away from the arguing quadruplets.

Hermione groaned, shaking her head and tucking a piece of hair behind her ear, "I hate Divination," she mumbled and Megara laughed, looping her arm around her shoulder.

"But Hermione," she said, squeezing lightly before letting go and over taking them, running up to James, "Its such an easy pass,"

Hermione snickered and glanced at Sirius, who looked humoured and he brought her closer to his body with a tug of his hand.

*****

"Welcome class!" The teacher, Professor Daniels, shouted to the class of students. Some mumbled back, others merely nodded and Hermione was half expecting Lavender and Parvarti to squeal in happiness. "Tarot cards!" She cried, throwing her arms out, "Begin!" She was actually very beautiful, her pure white hair a contrast to her Japanese complexion, her choppy fringe falling into her deep purple eyes. Her black jumper was pulled over the tips of her fingers and she had on tight purple jeans. She was actually cool and Hermione decided that, unlike Professor Trelawney, she had something there, and she wasn't all just nonsense.

Sirius sighed next to her and bent the top part of his body underneath the table, reaching for his bag, while Lily opposite them did the same. She found it slightly ironic that James and Sirius favoured the same wonky table that Ron and Harry did.

"Right, who's going first?" Sirius asked, dumping his tarot cards on the table.

"Hermione can," Lily said, nodding her head in Hermione's direction, who shrugged, not believing that anything would come of it.

"Sure, why not?" Sirius smiled and handed Hermione the cards to shuffle, making sure that their fingers brushed and she felt the electrical surge that she always did whenever they touched.

She felt her skin burn slightly with her blush and she bent her head, letting her waterfall of hair hide her flushed complexion as she shuffled the deck of tarot cards and laid the first eight of them out in a semi-circle in front of her, face down, ready for Sirius to turn them over for her.

"Okay, card number 1…" he said in a dramatic voice, just as a gust of wind blew through the window and turned all of the candles out. There was enough light coming out of the window that the room wasn't in total darkness, but the clouds outside blocked out most of the sun, creating a grey misty light.

"Well…That was eerie." James clapped his hands together and rubbed them, almost gleefully, like he knew that that's what was going to happen.

Hermione caught Lily's eyes who shrugged and Professor Daniel's wandered over to their table, waving her hand and the candles ignited again, clapped her hands and she conjured a chair. Hermione was impressed.

She wasn't impressed that Professor Dumbledore had convinced her to take Divination.

"Now, let's see here," she said, her voice sounding perfectly normal, not annoying and lost like Professor Trelawney's did. She battered Sirius' hand away, who looked bemused at his teacher and she took a hold of the card. "No offence, Mr. Black, but you're awful at this. You'll just make something up like 'The cards say a racoon will take a blade of grass and tickle you in the bellybutton'" The table burst into laughter and Sirius pouted, crossing his arms and turning his upper body to the side, but he stayed so that he could see.

Her fingers grasped the corner of the first card and Hermione saw that her fingernails were painted white to match her hair. She looked up at her teacher to see that her eyes had gone entirely white and Hermione gulped.

"Ace of sword, upright." She muttered, "a total and complete change of mind…Triumph, victory, success…" Hermione smiled at the words, and wished that the cards would be true. "Next we have the five of wands, reversed…Hurt, trickery and fraud," Hermione's head whipped up to stare in belief at the Professor, then her eyes met Sirius' horror flashing through her mind that he might believe it and demand answers. The time would come, she knew, but it didn't have to be now.

She was relieved to see that he just looked amused, slumped in his seat, moving his finger across the table cloth, tracing patterns that only he could see.

"Right…The lovers, upright," Sirius caught Hermione's eyes and he winked and she blushed again, averting her eyes back to the card. "Upright…Harmony and union, difficult decisions, a struggle down two different paths…"

Hermione mentally nodded as Professor Daniels grasped the forth card and flipped it over, "The seven of cups, reversed…One of each suit so far…following a distinct pattern," she looked up at Hermione, who was slightly disturbed by her white eyes, "that is very strange…" she went back to lucking at the cards and Hermione could hear James struggle not to laugh. "You have a fear of success Hermione, which goes against the surrounding cards…"

"That's because it's all nonsense," James muttered, propping his head up in his hands.

"The next card is the six of pentacles, upright…You are kind of Heart, Hermione and you use your fortune to benefit others." Lily smiled across the table at her and Hermione wondered how her cards would turn out. Hermione's were turning out to be true.

"High Priestess, upright…Secret knowledge and something remains yet to be revealed," Sirius yawned and stretched and Hermione relaxed, realising that he didn't take this seriously.

"Okay, the seventh card is the four of swords, upright. You're recuperating from battle, and have now found some peace…They'll be hospitalization…" she mumbled the last sentence and Hermione's eyes widened in slight shock while Sirius frowned.

"Your last card is the two of cups, upright. You have found romance and will find mutual respects in opposites."

The trapdoor banged open and a head poked through who Hermione recognised as the fifth year Gryffindor prefect.

"Errm, Professor Daniels?" Professor Daniel looked up, her eyes returning to their natural colour, the white spreading from the middle of her pupil outwards.

"Yes, Mr. Spall?" She asked, rising from her chair and Hermione saw that she had a skull stitched onto the back pocket of her purple jeans.

"Errm, Professor Dumbledore would like to see…Errm…Hermione Kingsley? I think that's how you say her name anyways," he said, squinting around at the class.

"Very well, Mr. Spall, Miss Kingsley, off you go," Hermione nodded and grabbed her bag from the floor, pushing her chair back and throwing it over her head, as she passed Sirius, he grasped her hand and squeezed lightly and Hermione smiled at him, squeezing back. She had discovered that it was his best way of comforting and she had to say it worked. She wasn't worried about why she had been called into the Headmaster's office, but she was, to say the least, confused about this.

"Miss. Kingsley, could you please write a small paragraph about what you think your cards mean, or if you think it's all phoney, you can write about that to, but why you think its wrong. Don't forget to put it in relation to the other cards around it," Professor Daniels said, resting her hand lightly on Hermione's shoulder.

The grip got deathly tight and Hermione looked up in shock at her professor, who's eyes had reverted back to the milky white, staring at something in the distance.

"Professor?" Sirius asked, pushing his chair back.

"Professor?" Hermione asked as well, feeling concern and fear coil tightly in her stomach and she automatically reached for her wand, but someone's hand clasped over hers, pulling it back down to her side. She whipped her head around, an insult crawling its way up her throat, but she managed to push it down when she saw it was only Sirius, staring in confusion at their professor.

"_You don't belong here…" _Professor Daniel's gasped and Hermione tensed, something Sirius tensed and he rested his other hand on her other shoulder, massaging slightly with his thumb. "_Bad things happen to witches and wizards who meddle…"_ Hermione closed her eyes and twisted her head to the side slightly, so that it was resting on Sirius' chest. It was uncomfortable and really hurt her neck, but she was suddenly to tired to lift it up anymore, as her Divination teacher was about to give away why she was here. She recognized this and she knew she was seeing a twisted, distorted vision of the future, from what Harry had told her about his encounter with Professor Trelawney in third year.

"_You can stop the devastating events in 1981…You just need to find the seven—" _Professor Daniel's hand was ripped from her shoulder and she grasped her neck, choking and spluttering, bending at the waist. "Oh!" She croaked out, coughing, her hands shaking, "what happened? Miss Kingsley? Are you still here? Go, now, before I give you detention, Professor Dumbledore needs you girl!" Hermione blinked in shock at the Japanese teacher, who didn't seem to remember what she had just said. Hermione's mind was in a frantic frenzy at she gasped quietly, breaking from Sirius' hold and dropping her bag, going to the ladder and quickly descending it, followed by the prefect, who had climbed into the classroom when Professor Daniels went into a trance.

"It's impossible…I can't do it…" She gasped, running towards the office, the Prefect shouting behind her. "No." She stopped dead in the middle of the corridor, realising how stupid her plan was. Find the Horcruxes…How? She was stuck in Hogwarts.

But what about after? She'd join the Order of the Phoenix, she knew that. She may not be able to stop the disastrous events happening, but she could stop the minor disasters happening…

But if she got the Horcruxes, then Lord Voldemort would be defeat able and would never have to harm James and Lily and Harry…

Her thought were running a mile a minute and she needed to sit down to breathe and think about what she was supposed to do. Her back hit the wall and she slid down it, her bum hitting the stone floor.

"Well, if it isn't Miss Kingsley," A voice sounded from above her.

"Hey, Quinton," she didn't even look up as Quinton sat beside her.

"Aren't you supposed to be seeing Dumbledore?" He asked, wiping his face with the edge of his sleeve.

"Yeah," she answered, pulling her knees up to her chest.

"You know what, Hermione, you're on the right track." He said, twisting his body to the side.

"How do you know that? I could be on the totally wrong path and make the world worse!" She said, her breathing picking up. This decision that she had to make was stressing her out and she really, really didn't want to be in that predicament anymore.

"How is destroying Voldemort being on the wrong path?" He asked softly, twisting his body to the side to look at her.

"What if I fail? What if I don't find them? Then my friends will still die!" She said frantically.

"Maybe they will," he agreed and Hermione looked up at him. He wasn't wearing robes; instead he had on a sweater vest over a crisp white shirt, his long brown hair pulled into a ponytail and his spectacle balanced on the end of his nose.

"But I want to stop that happening!" She cried out.

"Sometimes you cant. You can make the future a better place, but you might have to pay a price," he said regretfully and Hermione closed her eyes tightly shut, not wanting to think about this.

"I'm sorry," he said softly, squeezing her shoulder before standing up, brushing down the back of his jeans. "You'd better get to Professor Dumbledore's office, I got a hot date with my wife," he sauntered off down the corridor and Hermione watched him go, processing his words. He had a point, but if she got all the Horcruxes _before_ 31st October…

She sighed and stood up, heading for Dumbledore's office. She got to the entrance and the gargoyle standing in front of it blinked and jumped to the side at the sight of her.

"Go straight on up," it's gravelly voice sounding across to her and she smiled in gratitude, standing at the bottom of the spiral staircase and started up them, just as it started to move, like an escalator. She just wanted this to be over and done with.

She reached for the golden knocker on the door, shaped like a Phoenix, lifting it up and bringing it back down once, twice, three times.

"Come on in, Miss Kingsley," Hermione opened the door and stepped into the office, taking in the bookcase and golden ornaments. "Take a seat," he said, gesturing to a majestic golden chair with royal purple cushions.

"Why did you want to see me, sir?" She lowered herself into the seat, messing with the ends of her hair.

"Take a lemon snap," he said, gesturing with his head to the little candy dish perched on the end of his gigantic desk. She hesitantly reached foreword and took one, popping it in her mouth. "Now, I hear that you were a prefect at your old school, correct?" He asked, his fingers touching, creating a steeple effect,

"Err, yes sir," she said, confusion evident in her voice as her mind tried to process and figure out where this conversation was going.

"Well," he begin, leaning back in his chair, "I would like you to join the other prefects, and the head boy and girl, decorate the Great Hall for the ball." He said and Hermione's eyes widened in shock.

"Wait, sir, what Ball?"

"Well, my dear child, the Bonfire night ball. Did you not have those at your previous school?" He asked, his own silver eyebrows rising in questioning.

Hermione blinked at her head master, not really understanding. It was the 4th November, meaning they had a day to plan this all out and she didn't have anything to wear and she'd never done this before…

It wasn't until she heard Dumbledore chuckle that she realised that she was speaking out-loud and she blushed slightly.

"Don't worry, the arrangements have been made and decided for a long time, I'd just like you to help with the preparation of it," he stood, his hands leaning on the edge of his desk and his beard swished from side to side. "Well, off you pop. I believe that it's time for your break now," he smiled and Hermione found herself smiling back.

"Thank you sir," she nodded her head and left the office, heading in the direction of Gryffindor tower to meet up with Rayne who she shared her free with.

She found herself walking against the sea of students, pushing against her, forcing her back as her thoughts swirled in horrid submission, trying to collect themselves and form a proper order as she decided on the best course of action to take. Maybe she couldn't save James and Lily, but she would save the future generations so that they didn't have to fear Lord Voldemort, didn't have to live in constant fear.

The second she left Hogwarts, she would join the order and tell them of the Horcruxes and together, they would hunt them down.

"Hey, Hermione!" Hermione's head turned to the side to see Sirius leaning against the wall, arms crossed and foot pressed flat against the wall behind him. She grinned and made her way to him, letting her hands run up his chest and around his neck, feeling his arms encircle her waist and she brought his lips to hers, smiling into it, feeling him smile back.

She'd do that, after Hogwarts. But for now, she was going to spend every last minute that she could enjoying being eighteen. She'd been given a second chance to live this year with no fear.

And she was going to take.

Amidst the clapping and whooping of the students around her, Hermione Granger made her choice.

To live.


	18. The ultimate surprise

**Disclaimer: **_Don't own…_

**Weight of the World**

**Chapter 18**

"You two are just so cute!" Rayne squealed, collapsing onto her bed. Hermione grinned and sat cross legged on her own, Super Hero the lizard on her pillow, moving its head slowly backwards and forewords. Hermione had gotten so used to the lizard that she didn't even keep her eyes on it anymore. "Are you excited for the Ball?"

"Oh yeah, the ball that I only just heard of…Lets not tell Hermione so that she can actually have something to wear," she teased, throwing a top at Rayne, which hit her in the face. "Oh, my God, what am I going to wear?" She said, suddenly in slight distress. Rayne laughed and Hermione scowled at her, devising a quick plan in her head to slip into Hogsmeade tonight to get something decent to wear.

"Don't worry your pretty little head about it," Rayne giggled, taking some nail varnish out of her bedside cabinet and some toe separators, a face mask, pore strips and some tweezers.

"Oh, no. Rayne, no, no way!" Hermione said, climbing backwards over the bed, trying to get to the door before Rayne did.

She was unlucky.

"Grab your bathroom gown girl, we're being pampered!"

Ten minutes later found the girls stretched out on Megara's bed, facing the door, the wireless radio turned right up, playing the Orbits World's _The day the Time Turner's died _Rayne singing the world at the top of her voice, her hair up in a towel, painting her toenails a mother of pearl colour. Beside her, Hermione's hair hung wet and limp down her back, a face mask turning her skin a green colour.

"How long am I supposed to have this on for?" Hermione mumbled, tentatively touching it only to have her hand smacked away by Rayne.

"Don't touch it!" She half-yelled, a lock of blonde hair falling from her wrapped up towel.

"Rayne, aren't we supposed to do this tomorrow?" She asked slightly angry.

"Nope, it makes your skin all greasy. Plus, your hair will be much easier to style."

"Great," Hermione mumbled.

"Right." Rayne said, getting her wand and drying her toe nails instantly. "Which dress are you gonna wear?" She hopped up and went to the end of her bed where her trunk was, opening the catch and lifting the top up, rifling through the contents.

"Ha, ha," Hermione said, scrunching her nose up as she felt the face mask set, "you know I don't have anything to wear," she sighed, "why did everyone keep it such a huge secret from me, anyways, I mean, a Ball and the school isn't buzzing?" she asked, getting up as well, following Rayne.

"Were just used to it, I suppose. Forth years and under aren't allowed to go, its just fifth, six and seventh years. You go and get your dress robes, suits or dresses during the summer, but of course, you couldn't as you weren't here." She took out a gold box that on first glance, surely couldn't fit inside the trunk. It was almost twice the length. "Now, lets pick our dresses," she grinned wickedly and Hermione groaned in frustration.

"In case you didn't hear me the first million times," she started, "I don't have any dresses to…" Rayne had opened the box, revealing fifty dresses that seemed impossible to fit in there, all stacked neatly in colour co-ordination. "…chose from…" she finished weakly, her hand reaching out to touch the soft fabrics of a dark purple dress. "Rayne-"

"-Ahh, shut up and take one!" Hermione grinned in gratitude and grabbed the dark purple dress, dancing into the bathroom, holding it up against her body. Rayne cranked the music up and together, they tried on every dress in her box until they had decided on the perfect ones.

"Why do you have so many dresses?" Hermione asked, conjuring a protective clear bag for her chosen dress and she folded it over, placing it delicately in her trunk, her face clear of any face mask residue and she had a pore strip across her nose.

"Hey, when you're rich, you're rich!"

Hermione laughed and grabbed a small round mirror, looking at herself. She looked so much healthy, not having to worry about immediate death if she stepped out of Hogwarts and having girl friends and Sirius…Her hair wasn't as crazy as it was when she came here, and the bags that she seemed to wear permanently under her eyes had all but gone. Her scar, which stood out prominently against her pale skin was hidden well now against the slight tan that her skin had gained. She looked better, felt better and decidedly was better.

"I want it back though," Rayne said, throwing a pair of socks at Hermione's head.

"Okay, okay!" Hermione laughed, putting down the mirror and jumping onto Rayne's bed. "How's things going with Lovegood?" She asked, hoping that Rayne wasn't going to burst into tears.

"Not to bad actually…I mean, once you get past the age and Nargles, he's a pretty decent guy. So sweet---Why are you laughing?" Hermione had burst into joyous giggles at the 'Nargles' comment, a vision of Luna skipping thorough the train, holding onto the Quibbler, crazy glasses on and a smile like she was the most normal person in the world.

"Sorry, Rayne, I was thinking of someone who I used to go to school with," she said, shaking her head to rid her of the memory. "So, you're not dreading it as much?" She asked, settling against the headboard, glancing at her watch to see hoe long she had left for the Pore strip.

"Oh, I'm totally dreading it," she sighed, "I don't wanna get married! I'm only eighteen!" She said, throwing her hands in the air. "Urgh, life can be so unfair," she said, crossing her arms and pouting and Hermione felt sympathy for her. She didn't love Lovegood, and Hermione wondered if she ever would. "Oh! I'm looking foreword to the sex though," she said nonchalantly and Hermione's jaw dropped.

"But…He's…10 years older!" Hermione spluttered.

"Yeah. And? He's not old, Hermione. He's drop dead gorgeous. Crazy as Hell, but H-O-T!"

Hermione shook her head to get rid of the disturbing image of the Xenophilius _she_ knew with this Rayne out of her head. She wasn't succeeding.

"Dinner time!" Hermione squeaked, sitting up straight, "Time for dinner!" She stood up quickly and fled the room, leaving Rayne sitting on her bed looking confused.

Hermione ran out the common room, nearly running into a miniature third year, and kept running until she was sure that she had left the memory far behind her. She had ran nearly all the way to the Great Hall and knew that she was gonna be a few minutes early for Dinner and wasn't at all surprised when they were only a one teacher, a Ravenclaw, two Hufflepuff's and Severus Snape seated. Snape glanced over the top of his book and raised his eyebrows in acknowledgment, which Hermione returned with a nod of her head before turning to seat herself at the Gryffindor table.

Peter scuttled in a minute later, his watery eyes landing on Hermione and he smiled lightly, tentatively making his way over to her. He sat down slowly opposite her and Hermione blinked at him, deciding if it was worth moving. His eyes darted to the teacher's table and he visibly relaxed when he saw a teacher, Professor Sprout, sat here, watching over the pupils.

A bustle started at the door and Hermione stopped burning a hole in Peter's forehead with her glare to see what was happening. It was the Slytherin couple, Eric and Eleanor. And she looked angry.

"How dare you! You absolute scum of the Earth!" She screeched, her hands pushing in his chest pushing him backwards. For such a small, petite girl she looked strong as Eric had to windmill his arms to keep up.

"Me?!" He asked outrage once he gained his balance, crowding into her personal space, making her back up. Her big blue eyes appeared even larger as fear crossed over her features momentarily before it was sculpted back into it's mask, unreadable. "I am not the one was thought it'd be fun to cheat!" He shouted and everyone in there (a whole grand total of seven) gasped in shock as Eleanor's pale skin tinted pink.

"I slept with him because you slept with the whore!" She screamed back, crossing her arms. Eric's anger bubbled into his eyes and he grabbed onto the top of her arms and slammed her viciously into the stone wall. Professor Sprout stood at once, her mouth opening to reprimand him. But somebody grabbed his by the shoulders and pulled him off, flinging him to the floor before delivering a swift kick to his midsection. Hermione's mouth dropped open in shock, her jaw almost hitting the wood of the Gryffindor table.

"Mr. Pettigrew! What do you think you're doing!" Pater looked up at Professor Sprout, his hair hanging in his eyes, his breathing off and stood, towering over Eric.

He blinked and shook his head, backing up a step. "I-I'm sorry," he said, his hands in front of him like he didn't know what they were. "I'm sorry," he said once more before he turned and ran, running into Rayne who blinked in confusion, before he ran past her.

Rayne stepped over Eric, sparing him a glance before dropping herself into the seat opposite Hermione, eyebrows raised in questioning.

"Peter went crazy," Hermione said, watching as Professor Sprout demanded that Eric go to the Hospital Wing and her eyes slid over to the Slytherin table.

Hermione stood and walked around the Gryffindor table, down the Hall to the other end and she thought briefly that she'd never walked this way before, the ground seemingly to be uneven under her feet.

She dropped down into the seat opposite Snape but he didn't give her any indication that he knew she was there, his coal black eyes moving backwards and forewords across the page before turning it, his actions indicating that he was bored.

"What was that Snape?" She asked, leaning across the desk, "an _Imperio_?" there was no way in Hell that Peter would do that voluntarily.

"He deserved it," Snape said icily, placing the book on the desk, his eyes meeting hers. "He's a git."

"Maybe so, but you can't cast an illegal spell, Snape, its unforgivable," she said, her finger pointing at him to accentuate her words, giving them more of a point.

"So? In case you didn't gather, Kingsley, I'm a Slytherin. We don't care much for trivialities such as what's wrong." His eyes went back to his book, a clear indication that he had ended the conversation.

"I'm sure Dumbledore wouldn't see it the same way," she hissed, pushing away from the table and walked off, determined to go inform the Headmaster of Snape's actions.

"I'm sorry, Kinglsey," she heard before she found herself against the stone wall, Snape towering over her. "You got something on me, true," he said, leaning further into her, trapping her with his body and she nearly gagged. He was handsome as a seventeen year old, that was unavoidable to think, but he was cruel, spiteful and shallow. Plus, he reminded her of wax. "Don't forget, I got something on you."

"Pfft, you don't scare me," she said, pushing at the hands on her shoulders, and he let go.

"Fine. I'm sure Black would just love to know that you deceived him," he said, echoing her earlier actions and walking towards the door, but Hermione grabbed his wrist, halting his movements.

"Okay! We're even." She said, letting his hand drop.

"No we aren't. We'll continue to blackmail each other for the rest of the year, none of us acting out our threats and we'll go our separate ways to never see each other again. Except maybe on the battlefield," he said, stepping away and Hermione glanced down at the realization that he was going to become a Death Eater at the end of this year.

"There a problem?" Both looked up to see Sirius stood there, twiddling his wand in his fingers, raising his eyebrows at Hermione who nodded. She was amazed at the way they could communicate without words and understood each other perfectly. He had been asking her if she was okay.

"No problem, Black. Just a misunderstanding. She was under the impression that I cared about meaningless things. I saw it upon myself to correct her," Sirius took a threatening step forewords and Hermione slid in front of Sirius, placing her hands on his chest to halt his movements.

"No, Sirius. It isn't worth it," she murmured and he deflated slightly, but his eyes remanded on Snape who was brushing off his cloak.

"Calm down, boy, before I put you on a leash," Snape said, his eyebrow jerking up and Hermione wondered if Snape knew about Sirius being an animagus, after all, he knew that Remus was a werewolf.

"Sirius, come on," she pushed and with a final glare at Snape he turned with her and together they walked to the Gryffindor table to Rayne was who was skaing her head and laughing.

"Oh, man! Hermione, you still have a pore strip on!" Rayne said and Hermione frowned, her hand going to her nose and indeed, she felt the strip which had now turned hard. It had been on much longer then it was to be on for.

"Urgh," she muttered, sitting into the seat next to Rayne while Sirius climbed iver the table and took the seat opposite, biting him lip to keep his laughter in. "Its not funny," Hermione said, her fingers feeling around the edges, trying to find a bit that she could hold onto.

Rayne battered her hands away and grabbed a glass of water and took a handkerchief out of her pocket and dabbed it in, taking Hermione's chin between her fingers and turning her head up into the light of a window so that she could see better.

"Silly, Hermione," she chided softly and, once the Pore Strip was wet enough, she slid her fingernail under the edge, lifting it slightly, Hermione's skin pulling with it until it unstuck and Hermione felt her eye's water. Opposite her, Sirius stifled a manly giggle. "Okay, do you want me to just rip it off?" She asked, but before Hermione could answer, Rayne yanked on the Pore strip hard and Hermione squealed as Sirius let his laugh go and pounded on the table.

"Sirius!" Hermione said, her hand going to her nose to try to stop the burning sensation. "It's not funny!" She whined, frowning at her boyfriend. He grinned and stretched his body across the table, taking her jaw and pulling it over gently, planting a kiss on the bridge of her nose.

"Trust me, it is."

*****

5th November 1977

"Are you deaf, James? I said that it should be red! That's white!" Lily's voice cut through Hermione's senses as she laid table clothes on the round tables which could seat eight people, that table cloth a rich brown with orange edges. Very Autumn colours.

"Lily, are you a witch or aren't you? Use your wand to make it the right colour," James said patiently and Hermione chuckled as she remembered her first year in the trapdoor surrounded by Devil's snare and a frantic panic deep inside her to find wood and Ron screaming at her.

She had always been prone to reverting back to Muggle ways when she was agitated, scared or angry, forgetting that she could use her wand and instead, her lifestyle of eleven years took over and she found herself doing meaningless tasks, such as dusting or folding clothes which would take her a second if she used magic.

"Da, da, da, da!" Someone sang behind her and Hermione turned her head to see Sirius pull a giant figure stuffed with straw, dressed in a lime green bowler hat and a black cloak.

"Were gonna burn the Minister of Magic's secretary?" Hermione asked, brushing her hair behind her ears. They had built a huge pyre outside, where the students would go to watch the firework display.

"They didn't have any Guy Fawkes left," Sirius shrugged and Remus popped his head from behind the figure.

"Also, Guy Fawkes was a Muggleborn who had refused to be entered into Hogwarts…I think it's a shame that he's burnt, don't you? Fudge is much more fun to burn," he said gleefully, running a hand through his sandy blonde hair.

Remus looked ragged and tired and his eyes had bags under them. His skin looked yellow and his hair looked lifeless. She guessed that the full moon would be soon, and she hated it, hated that her friend and future professor had to go through this.

"Hermione!" she turned to see Rayne running to her, her blonde hair swishing behind her, the pink ribbon she had tied in it coming loose. "We have to get dressed!" she announced excitedly, clinging onto her black sweater. Hermione looked at her watch and raised her eyebrows.

"Rayne…In case you didn't gather…We have five hours until the—" But before she finish her sentence, Rayne had grabbed her hand and pulled her away and Hermione only had time to utter a quick bye to Sirius who yelled that he'd meet her in the common room at eight.

"Megara and Kara are already there, Thoma'll be there in about five minutes, she's with Matthew you see, and Lily's just telling Olivia how she wants the Hall decorated before she joins us as well. She can't leave James in charge after all, nobody will come for fear of being covered in goo of chicken feathers." Rayne explained, her hand grabbing Hermione's and she started skipping, making Hermione's movements jerky.

Hermione had never had anybody to get ready for a ball with…Lavender and Parvarti didn't spare her a glance at the Yule ball and she had never been accepted as a child. Even at Bill and Fleur's wedding, she had gotten ready separate from Ginny, as she had been with Fleur's sister Gabrielle as Bride Maids.

"Slug Club" Rayne said to the Fat Lady who bowed her head slightly and the portrait creaked open, admitting their entrance.

She was pulled up the girl staircase, bewildered how they had gotten there so fast, and pushed through a door to see Kara and Megara jumping on the beds in childlike glee, singing a song about Hufflepuff's and Teddy Bears.

"Oh, goody! Only Thoma and Lily and they'll be here soon," Kara said, letting her legs lift up as she bounced, so she landed on her bum and she stopped bouncing, opening her arms for her lizard, Super Hero, who's tongue snuck out and Hermione was reminded of a trailer for a Disney Film called Mulan with a red dragon who said "Oh no, I don't do that tongue thing," and then proceeded to do the 'tongue thing'.

Hermione had wanted to watch that film as well.

The door banged up and Thoma stood there, wearing a yellow top, green jeans, red shoes and a pink headband in her orange hair.

"Are we gonna get ready?" She asked as her fluffy white cat, Cherry, wound her way around Thoma's legs and she bent down to pick it up.

"That's it!" Meg said, jumping off her bed and landing crouched on the floor. "I think it's time Charlie came out," she opened the closet door and a blur of gold flew out, jumping happily, pawing at the bed covers until Meg picked him up, transfigured a book on her bedside table into a dog toy (Hermione was appalled at this) and gave it to Charlie, who yapped and played with it.

Hermione shook her head and sat next to Thoma, deciding that the cat was the less evil of them and was delighted when Cherry hopped into her lap. She sighed and started stroking the white fur, a pang of sadness hitting her heart as she thought of Crookshanks, her amazing orange fluffy cat who was half kneazle.

"I'm here!" Lily said, leaning against the doorjamb, her arms crossed. "James was pestering me for ages about leaving him in charge, but you know what he's like." She shrugged, coming into the room and, seeing Hermione's bed free, she collapsed gracefully onto it.

The six girls were quiet for a minute, but the silence was short lived.

"Let's get ready!"

"I'm so excited, I could cry!"

"Who you going with?"

"Remus."

"Really? Aww," the chatter filled the room as the girls clambered about, climbing over the bed, turning the wireless radio on where 'A cauldron full of Hot, Strong love' was playing and the girls screeched, singing along.

Hermione wasn't sure if getting ready with someone was a good idea, as a headache was beginning to form at the back of her head, but when the girls pushed her into a seat in front of a vanity mirror Lily had conjured and they began squabbling over what exactly would be the best choice of make up colours, Hermione couldn't help but grin.

*****

Sirius, James, Peter and Remus were sat on the couch and arm chair around the fire, all in their dress robes. James' dress robes were a bronze colour, Remus was a deep blue, Sirius' were silver with black detailing and Peter had opted for a plain old black. It was five to eight and the four boys were waiting for their dates.

The sound of High Heels on the stone steps had all four heads whip to the stair case and they all stood, wondering who it was. A shadow was created along the wall, looking elongated and making the girl look at least 6 foot tall.

A booted foot with a peep hole descended first, followed by bare, tanned legs and the bottom of a pink dress with green unicorns on it appeared next, with a corset type belt and a black collar. Sirius wasn't surprised in the least to see bright orange hair curl slightly over the collar and he shook his head, sitting back down, brushing a bit of imaginary lint off his robes.

"Unimpressed, Black?" She asked, curtsying. Sirius grinned at her and shook his head.

"You look hot, but Im not stepping onto Matthew's territory. You'll kill me," Thoma breathed through her nose sharply at being called 'territory' before turning on her heel and leaving the guys sitting there, waiting for the next girl.

"I love Thoma," Remus said, "always great value," he nodded to himself and Sirius smiled again, agreeing with him. He'd know Thoma longer then anybody else, as she had lived in the muggle house next door to Grimmauld place, but as she was a half-blood, he had been forbidden to hang out with her. Her and her best friend, Olivia. He grinned as he remembered sneaking out of the house and playing with the two girls who had been friends since they were two years old.

But he shook his head to rid himself of those memories. He should be living in the now, with Hermione.

He hoped she liked her surprise, Sirius had been arranging it since they're first Hogsmeade trip a week ago. Not that much planning, but he had a few people in on it (okay, a lot) and knew it'd go off without a hitch.

Again, a girl descended down the stairs and Kara stepped into the common room in a long, floor length yellow dress with black cherry blossoms stitched onto it, black heels, and a yellow bangles with 'K and S' drawn on in black marker pen, (they smelled amazing, Sirius concluded).

"Summer waiting for you?" James asked, his eyebrows raising.

"Indeed she is. Did you know that Wynter was bi?" She asked, her hair poker straight, falling off her shoulders.

"Is she?" Sirius asked, a sudden image of him with Hermione _and _Wynter and he smiled in a way that could only be described as filthy.

"Indeed…Pity Hermione isn't, isn't it?" She asked and Sirius's bubble popped and he scowled at her as she laughed and sashayed out the common room, the portrait of the Fat Lady saying "Oh, what a lovely dress!"

"Right, all the girls with non Gryffindor dates have gone," Remus said, leaning foreword, "which means I bet that Hermione's next."

"Nah, Hermione'll be last. The girls make sure of that," James said, scratching the side of his face. "I reckon Megara will be next."

"I agree with James," Peter said, his eyes darting between the three boys.

"Sirius? What's your bet?" Remus asked and Sirius shrugged, pulling a name out at random.

"Rayne," he said, not really caring. "Why are they coming down one at a time?" He asked, shaking his head, his hair falling into his eyes _just so_.

"Don't ask about women mate," James said, "they're a puzzle wrapped in an enigma wrapped in a riddle. You'll never get answers."

Sirius rolled his eyes when another girl came down the stairs and Sirius' eyes swivelled to see who it was, knowing it wouldn't be Hermione. It was Lily and James' mouth dropped open in shock. Even Sirius' eyebrows rose in acceptance. Her bright red hair had been pulled into a French knot at the back of her head, a few loose tendrils framing her face. She was wearing a black dress that was long sleeved and stopped at her knees with silver accessories and shoes.

Sirius had to admit, he would be chatting her up if she wasn't James' and he wasn't Hermione's.

Technically, anyways.

"Umm…Can we go?" She asked, seemingly she was nervous and fidgeted, twisting the fabric of her sleeves in her fists. James blinked and hopped up, staring dumbly at her and he nearly tripped over the table in front of him. Lily laughed and took his hand, pulling him out of the common room with a wave goodbye to the guys.

Rayne came next, wearing a beautiful backless floor length white dress that was a halter top design, tying behind her neck and pale blue accessories, which matched her eyes perfectly. Her hair was in a loose ponytail and Sirius grinned wolfishly at her. Lily had looked good, Rayne looked amazing.

Rayne and Remus left together and that left him and Peter and Sirius knew, when the heel hit the stone and echoed around the room like a gun shot, that it was Meg's feet filling the shoe, not Hermione's.

He was right. She had on a purple bandage dress with a square neckline that went to above her knees with red shoes and a red bracelet with hearts all over it. The two colours together caused a contrast that made Sirius blink and his eyes go slightly funny. Megara winked at him and he smiled wanly, hoping that Peter would hurry up and take her out. He was getting impatient to see Hermione.

They left and Sirius tilted his head back onto the back of the couch, breathing deeply. He had only known Hermione a short time and being going out with her for two days, but it felt…Well, for lack of a better word, it felt right. Inexplicably and perfectly right.

He had been so lost in his thoughts of Hermione and what could be that he didn't hear someone descend the stairs and walk up to him. Until a hand settled on his cheek.

He sat bolt upright and blinked wildly before settling on Hermione who was leaning over the arm of the couch, grinning at him and his breath caught in his throat.

Okay, Thoma looked kooky, Kara looked okay, Lily looked good, Rayne looked amazing, Megara looked…Meh…But Hermione…Right now she was sexy, hot, attractive, stunning, beautiful and gorgeous all in one. Her hair had been tamed and now fell in soft waves around her face, falling off her shoulders as she leaned foreword, creating a waterfall effect that Sirius pushed back with his hand behind her ear and he saw that she had long dangly golden earrings in that were three circles connecting with a diamond. She had one golden eye shadow and a bit of eyeliner, flicking at the edges and her mascara made her eyelashes look thinker and longer. She wore no foundation, which he was thankful for and light coloured lip-gloss that made her lips absolutely 100% kissable. She smiled again and made to pull away but he held a hand to the one on his cheek while the other buried deep in her dark brown honey hair and brought her foreword for a kiss that was so slow, tender and loving that Sirius felt his heart swell for the witch in front of him. He didn't love her, but he was most definitely on the way there.

He pulled back slightly, so their breath mingled together before he stood, taking in her dress and his jaw dropped. She had on a floor length red dress and the fabric had been pulled at the front, just under her breasts to make a, what he could only describe as a 'knot effect', her dress had a plunging neckline and Sirius could see the creamy skin between her breasts. She had on gold strappy shoes and golden bangles adorning her left wrist, sparkling whenever she moved her arm. Sirius gulped again and Hermione fidgeted, not liking the scrutiny she was under.

"You're um…" he said, at a loss for words and Hermione smiled lightly at him, reaching for him and Sirius couldn't resist her. He wrapped his arm loosely around her shoulder, his wrist hanging limply and she brought her own hand up to entwine the fingers with the hand hanging over her shoulder.

"Let's go, shall we?" She asked and he couldn't wait to show the whole school (well, near enough) that he had the most attractive girl.

*****

Hermione was happily walking beside Sirius, feeling slightly exposed in her dress, but was to busy lost in her thoughts of Sirius to notice it properly, his hand tangled in hers and his steps matching hers, she smiled.

He looked absolutely devastatingly handsome sat on the couch in his grey dress robes, his head thrown back and his black hair framing his face that was just so _Sirius _she couldn't help but smile. The only thing was that she couldn't see his eyes and she longed to.

Whenever he looked at her, she got these pangs of warmth in her heart, even if she was irritated with him…Even when he was twenty years older, she had felt it, although not as evident as she did now.

Suddenly, her hand was dropped and the warmth across her shoulder left, leaving her confused and now slightly cold.

"Sirius, what—" before she could finish that thought, her vision went dark. "Sirius!" She said, moving to the side quickly before hands wrapped around her waist and pushed her foreword slightly, but she refused to budge. "What's going on?" She demanded, crossing her arms over Sirius and stamping her foot, taking some delight when her heel stabbed into his foot.

"Ow! Woman, could you be more violent?" He said, hopping on one foot while still keeping a grip on her with his arm around her waist.

"I could," she said, lifting her foot again and Sirius breathed out a laugh.

"Fair enough," he said, pushing her foreword again and this time she took a hesitant step foreword. "Trust me," he whispered, his lips tracing the shell of her ear and she took another step foreword, this one stronger, and they walked in synch to entrance of the great Hall.

"You ready?" He asked and Hermione made an impatient sound, which Sirius grinned at and she heard him pull open the door and suddenly she could see.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" The hall screamed as one and Hermione stepped back in shock, a hand clasping at her heart.

"Oh, God! What the hell?" She asked, thoroughly and utterly confused.

"Well, you didn't get to celebrate your birthday," Sirius beside her said, wrapping an arm around her waist. "So were doing it now. It's a bit late, mind but…" he trailed off, his grip tightening around her, bringing her closer. She saw her friends under a huge banner which said "Happy Birthday Hermione!" With a ginger cat charmed to run along the bottom of it. Leaves had been charmed to fall from the ceiling and disappear before they hit any student's heads. Hermione saw a mix of Ravenclaw's, Hufflepuff's and Gryffindor's, but not a single Slytherin insight, aside from Professor Slughorn who was sat at the Teacher's table along with Professor McGonagall, Professor Dumbledore, Professor Flitwick and Quinton and his wife, Hayley.

"There never was a Bonfire night ball, was there?" she asked and Sirius grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head, gazing at her with something akin to…Hope?

She understood instantly that he wanted her to love what he had put effort into, and she did. Glancing at the students, her friends, standing, getting all dressed up for her and she felt her heart swell and almost burst for the sudden love she held for them, almost equal to that of Harry and Ron and she felt tears well up in her eyes. Her mouth pulled upwards and she grinned at them all. They all cheered and James set off a couple of party poppers, the music started and the party began.

*****

A slow melody filled the Great Hall and Sirius was sad to see the night almost to an end. He glanced down at the girl on his arms, her head against his chest, over his heart, and her hand pressed softly against his right pectoral muscle, which tightened when she'd touched it, despite it being over his thick dress robes. His arms were wrapped casually around her waist and they moved together, the slow, steady beat of the song guiding their movements. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Olivia and Morgan dancing and his stomach did a flip as he remembered what it felt like when Olivia was in his arms…But she didn't even compare to Hermione.

Hermione was all feminine curves and soft places, and she fit into his arms in the most perfect way that it took Sirius' breath away.

Definitely on the right track.

Hermione mumbled something against his chest and yawned, the hand on his chest moving slightly to cover her mouth before fluttering back on his chest. She did have small, dainty hands.

"Thank you," she said and Sirius smiled, pressing a lingering kiss to her temple.

"Anytime, love," he said into her soft curls, "anytime," he sincerely meant it and he hoped that she would understand that.

She nodded and pulled back, gazing into his grey eyes with her brown ones and her hands slid up his chest, around his neck and up into his hair.

"Seriously, thank you," she said quietly, her eyes gleaming and Sirius felt his lips turn up, "I cant thank you enough," she laughed and Sirius felt that pull and he bent his head, his lips meeting hers.

Like the one earlier that evening, it was a slow sensual kiss, like they were trying to memorize each other. He kissed her full top lip as she kissed his bottom one, her tongue lightly running along the seam.

Then things turned fiery.

He ran his hand down her side to settle on her hip and pulled her closer, the other hand sliding into her hair so that not even air could get between the bodies. His tongue slid between her lips and she fisted her hands in his dress robes, the material bunching in her hands as he fed her hot, hungry kisses, breaking the kiss just to tilt his head the other way and carry on, the hand on her hip going lower till it reached her knee and he swiftly hiked it up around his waist. She grinned into the kiss and Sirius smiled back, his thumb tracing circles on her knee.

Overhead, Fireworks exploded and Catherine wheels span, igniting the dark, starless sky with colour, making the students looking up at the enchanted ceiling "Oooh," and "Ahhh," at the spectacular sight that went unnoticed by Sirius and Hermione. Why would Sirius want to watch fireworks that he could watch at any time, when he was currently kissing the most gorgeous person in the world?

Answer? He wouldn't.

Neither, it seemed, would Hermione, who barely paused in her ministrations on his mouth when the first firework exploded.

This, Sirius thought with delight as her hands moved over his shoulders and down his arms, this was an absolute dream come true.

A/N: _Okay, you can kill me for not updating sooner, but it was Olivia's wedding, (She got married!!!!) and I decided to write you an extra extra long chapter to make up for my ignorance and stupidity. _

_Hope you like it!_

_Questions, comments and reviews are all welcome!_

_Love you all! _

_Kelly_

_xxx_


	19. I'm Different

**Disclaimer: **_Don't own Harry Potter. _

**Weight of the World**

**Chapter 19**

"You are absolutely adorable together," Lily said, sliding her earrings out of her lobes and laying them perfectly on her side table as Hermione grinned and shoved her bracelets off, throwing them on the bed.

They'd just got in from the best party that Hermione had ever been to in her life and she was still excited from it. The dancing, the music, the friends…It had been better then the Yule Ball. She paused slightly when she thought of the Yule Ball and the troubles with Ron but she shook her head, letting her dress shimmy down her body before grabbing an oversized T-shirt, throwing it over her head and letting it fall till it rested against her thighs.

"You seriously are!" Kara squealed, still in her bright yellow dress and heels, dancing slightly to herself, holding Super Hero above her head. The lizard stuck its tongue out and blinked lazily, not at all impressed with the moves that Kara was pulling before Hermione stepped into her pyjama pants.

The boys had ordered that they go up, get changed in their most comfiest pyjama's and come back down for a special surprise. Hermione shuddered at what that surprise might be, but to be honest, she was looking foreword to it.

She was loving her time here, and was slightly glad that she couldn't get home…Barring complications, obviously.

She sat on her bed, cross legged, stroking Cherry's fluffy white fur absently as the other girls chattered amongst themselves and Hermione distantly wondered what was gonna happen to these girls. Rayne and Lily's fate was known to Hermione, but the other three…Hermione frowned, trying to find a record of Thoma, Kara and Megara in her mental file, but each name came up as a blank. She hoped dearly that they were unaffected by the war, and we're still alive in her time with husbands, kids and a good job.

"How's it going with Xenophilius?" Kara asked, flipping her long waterfall of curly black hair over her shoulder.

Rayne smiled and shrugged on a long button down grey shirt with XL stitched in gold on the front pocket. That answered Kara's question.

"It's going good," Rayne answered, shoving her feet in those slippers that were actually high heels and sat on her bed, waiting patiently for the other girls to be ready.

"Good. I remember how upset you were when you found out," Megara said, shimmying into some white pyjama pants and smiling, her dangly earrings still in her ears, glinting in the candlelight.

"You know, I was a fool," Rayne said, picking at a loose thread on her white bedspread. "I invited him here tonight so you could see him, but he had to work."

"What does he do?" Thoma asked, pulling off her cage boots and throwing them over her shoulder, the noise when they hit he floor slightly deafening.

"He's an editor for the 'Quibbler', you know, that crazy paper that never gives in to the Death Eaters," she smiled with something that Hermione could only say was pride and stood up when Cherry wondered to close to Rayne's bed.

"Well, good. Show's he's one of the good guys," Kara said, taking a night dress out of the bottom draw of her bedside table.

"I know, right? I'm ecstatic," Rayne said happily, while keeping one perfect blue on on the cat, who blinked innocently at her.

"I need to get me a boyfriend," Megara said, sighing. "I'm the only single one."

"Have you ever had a boyfriend?" Thoma asked inquitivley and Hermione blinked at the brightness of her yellow top, purple short, bright blue legwarmers and orange slippers.

"Of course I have. Unfortunately I turned him gay," she spat and Hermione's mind instantly went to the flamboyant Hufflepuff who took joy in wearing bowler hats, waistcoats, his shirt unbuttoned and called everybody "darling". She had heard Sirius and Remus talk about Aaron and she smiled at the fact that he fell in love with a woman, married her and now they have two children, one whom she had fought beside at the battle of the Astronomy tower. Jeffrey Townshead was a year younger then her and a member of the Ravenclaw house – he had come to Luna's aid.

"Aww!" Kara said, her head lost in the amount of white material of the nightdress as she struggled to find the hole where her head should be. Thoma rolled her eyes and moved across the room to help her.

"Its nothing to 'Aww' about, Kara. Im depressed over here," Megara said, collapsing onto her bed, throwing an arm over her eyes. "You know, Im almost sad that I don't have Sirius' attention anymore – No offence, Hermione," Hermione smiled and stood, stretching and yawning.

"You know, we should go down now, looks like we're all set," Lily said, tugging on the bottom of her black top.

Hermione nodded and led the way down the stairs, where they could hear the boys talking.

They descended the stairs and poured into the common room, where Slippery sleeping bags littered the floor. The blue material was under their feet and Rayne nearly fell in her high-heeled slippers.

"What have you done?" Megara asked, looking around as they noticed the loads of pillows strewn across the floor.

"We're having a sleepover," Sirius said from where he was laid on the couch, his ankles crossed and his hands behind his head.

"I always knew you were a bunch of girls," Rayne said, laughing and she dropped onto a pillow, her oversized shirt sliding up her thigh.

"Come on, Hermione, presents!" Remus said, pulling her by the hand until she found herself sat on the floor, her back against the couch and Sirius behind her.

The others all sat themselves around the table in the middle of the room. Hermione blinked blankly at it as Sirius moved behind her, sitting upright and placing his legs either side of her.

"James…You should go get the presents," Sirius said, trying to keep the laughter out of his voice.

"Oh yeah!" He said, jumping up and running up the boys staircase.

"Ignore him, love, he really is this stupid," Sirius chuckled, his hand settling on top of Hermione's head, playing with her hair.

"He's telling the truth," Lily said, bending one leg up, tilting her head to the side and Hermione laughed. She loved the way that they could tease each other and still be best friends. She was reminded so strongly of Fred and George and she felt that the Marauder's map ends up in good hands.

"And yet, the boy made Head Boy," Megara said dramatically, throwing her hand to her forehead, "Oh, what a terrible mistake Dumbledore made!"

"I second that," Remus said darkly, but a grin on his face showed the others that he didn't really mean it.

"Oh, hey! What did James say to you, anyways? On the train here?" Rayne asked, stretching her legs in front of her and leaning back on her arms, her hand sliding from beneath her and she only just managed to catch herself before falling flat on her back.

"When?" Lily said, frowning, trying to place the encounter.

"Er…On the train ride here? Didn't I already say that?" Rayne asked, looking confused. "You went to his carriage to yell at him and then he whispered and you blushed."

Lily blinked and sudden recognistion blossomed in her green eye. "Oh! I said, 'when Hell freezes over, Potter' and he leaned down and said, 'I'd best lace up my ice-skate's then'. The fact that he knows what Ice-Skates are amazes me.

"…What are ice skates?" Megara asked, her blue eyes blinking blankly. Hermione remembered being amazed, at her first Christmas at Hogwarts, that most students didn't know what they were – they just charmed the bottoms of their feet to glide across the ice for them.

While Lily launched into a explanation of Ice Skates and it's uses (Although Hermione thought it was pretty self explanatory) she let her mind wonder, staring into the fire. What could have turned Peter? It mustn't have happened yet, she decided, seeing the loyalty, love and trust in his beady eyes, and she was determined to stop him from turning.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Sirius asked by her ear and Hermione turned her head to the side, her brown eyes gazing at him.

"Aren't you listening to the Ice-skate lecture?" Hermione asked, her finger tracing a pattern over his kneecap lightly through his grey sweat pants.

"I already know what they are…I don't know what's going on in that pretty little head of yours," he used his hands to turn her and lift her until she was sat sideways on his lap, his arms around her hips and hers around his neck.

"To be honest Sirius…Neither do I." She grinned and pecked him lightly on the lips. He didn't try to deepen it or pull her closer just let her set the pace, and she loved that.

"Present time!" James called out happily, dumping a huge pile of multi-coloured wrapped presents on the table in front of them and Hermione's eyes widened at the amount there.

"Wow…Guys, there was no need to, really…" She said helplessly, stumbling when Sirius stood, nearly knocking her down.

"Of course we did!" Peter piped up, unexpectedly, "we're your friends!" Hermione couldn't stop the glare and Peter's grin dropped from his face before she caught herself and forced a smile, slightly touched that they would think of her in this way.

"Sit," Sirius pushed in her shoulders and she collapsed onto a purple sparkly pillow with Sirius settling beside her, flipping onto his stomach, watching her.

She smiled and picked up the first present on the pile, a oblong shape with white paper.

"That's mine!" Rayne said cheerily and Hermione shot her a smile before ripping the paper off. It was a black leather book, but it had no title. She opened the cover and was shocked to see, not the parchment and swirly writing that usually appeared when she opened a book, but instead the pages were hollowed out, filled to the brin with make-up brushes, eye shadow's, lipglosses, blushers and powder. Hermione huffed a laugh and closed the cover as Sirius shimmied over to her.

"You don't need all that," he whispered in her ear, kissing her jaw line, "you're beautiful,"

"Can you not touch her for like, five minutes?" Thoma said, taking a nail varnish out of Hermione's new make-up set (it was bright purple), slid her feet out of her slippers and painted her toe nails.

"Hmm…No," Sirius said and, as if to prove his point, put his hand on her knee and left it there. As long as he didn't wander up any higher she'd let it slide.

The next present had been from Thoma, who had gotten her a new set of peacock quills; Remus had gotten her a book (an actual one) all about magical creatures. Werewolves was a section in the book and Hermione wondered if it was his own little way of letting her know, but she knew that he didn't trust her completely yet…Lily was the only non Marauder who know…And Snape, she realised with a shock, remembering the trick that Sirius had played on the potions professor and she stiffened at his cruelty.

"You okay?" Kara asked, Super Hero on her shoulder.

"Yeah," she smiled, but Kara could tell it was false.

She reached for another present, this one bright red and from James, another book (Prankster 101) she grinned and placed it on top of her other book. Peter had gotten her a gorgeous dark red knitted scarf and she gasped when it fell from the wrapping.

"Peter…Wow…" She said, her fingers running over the soft material.

How could someone go from this to a back stabber?

"Thankyou," she said genuinely, winding it around her neck. She was pleased to feel that it had a warming charm on it.

"It's nothing," he said, blushing and Sirius nudged Remus, who raised his eyebrows and James smirked.

The next present was from Kara and was a new bag that had been charmed to be weightless and Hermione was thankful for the thoughtfulness. Lily had gotten her a dark blue blanket with silver stars on it, that glowed in the dark and Megara had gotten her a light that floated above her bed, so she could read when everybody else had gone to sleep and she didn't need to hold her wand.

There were two presents left and Hermione opted to pick up the smaller of the two. Lifting the tag she saw it was from Sirius. She carefully took the wrapping paper off, not wanting to tear it.

"Come on!" James said. Beside him, Lily shook her head and rolled her eyes.

"You know what it is, James," Sirius said.

"I know, but the suspense is killing me!"

The wrapping paper fell to the floor and disappeared with a "poof" a helpful spell that saved lots of tidying up and she stared at the velvet blue box.

She raised her eyebrows and slowly opened the box, gasping in wonderment when she saw the bracelet that sat on the cushion. It had many charms on it and Hermione fell in love with it. She took it out of the box gently and Sirius clasped it around her wrist, kissing the pulse point. She grinned and blushed slightly as Sirius grinned wolfishly at her before a pillow sailed through the air and hit him square on the head.

"James!" He growled, pulled the purple sparkly cushion, causing Hermione to fall to the side and lobbed it at James, who expertly ducked it.

"Oh, you're on!" The seventh year Gryffindor's escalated in a pillow fight resulting in feathers around the room, make-up spilled all over the floor and a sleepy fifth year (who Hermione decided was quite cute) telling them to shut up.

The collapsed on the floor, laughing and out of breath.

"Okay, I think it's time we go to la-la land," James said, crawling into his sleeping bag. One by one, they all filtered away, snuggling under the blankets and warmth and dropping off, letting sleep consume them.

_Hermione? Can you hear me? Of course you cant, your not awake…It's, er, it's Ron. You know, tall, ginger…An idiot. I just, I wanted to let you know that we miss you, Hermione, so much, and I am so sorry that I did this to you…You have to…_

_Hey, it's Harry. Er, right. I just have one request…Can I hold your hand? Oh, I'm being ridiculous, you cant hear me…I'll just hold it anyways. Hermione, you have to wake up. Ron is sorry for the potions accident but that's all it was, an accident. Hermione…I cant do this without you…_

_Hermione, it's Ginny. I think for the sake of my family you should wake up. Mum's going sparse, Ron's like the living dead, even Fred and George aren't as fun anymore. This isn't funny anymore. When Ron told me he blew you up I burst into laughter, but it really isn't funny. I'm sorry, I really am…_

_It's okay, Hermione. The bonedietics are surrounding you, I can see them. They're protecting you, keeping the nightmare's away. Daddy says that I mustn't speak loud to you, or they'll fly away…_

_It's your favourite twins! Gred and Forge at your serve and we are here to lighten up your day, aren't you Fred? Indeed we are George. Indeed we are. _

_You're different, Hermione. This is different…_

_Please wake up, _

_Wake up…_

_Wake up!_

_WAKE UP!_

Hermione woke gasping in Sirius' arm, gasping and shaking, cold sweat breaking out on her forehead, running in rivulets down then side of her face.

"I'm still there…Sirius, I'm still there…" She gasped, her fingers pulling at the black material of his wife-beater.

"Hermione, shhhh, it's okay," he whispered, rubbing her back in slow circles. The room around her was dark and Hermione was unable to see anybody else, but the deep breathing could be heard.

"It isn't…I'm different, I'm not like Ester, I'm not!" She cried and fear began to bubble in her veins.

She could get home.

**A/N: **_Okay, I had 49 viruses on my comp (How, I have no idea) and the thing had to be wiped clean erasing all of my documents. Every single one. Including the beginning of this chapter, but the original version. This is different but it's still the same, if that makes sense…_

_Okay, so the plot thickens...Enjoying it? Hating it? Review and let me know!_

_Love ya!_

_Kelly_

_xxx_


	20. Explanations

**Disclaimer: **_Not mine, I'm not profiting from writing this, this is just for fun._

**Weight of the World**

**Chapter 20**

6th November 1977

Hermione woke blearily to the common room, her brown eyes lazily scanning the room, noting that the only ones gone where Rayne and Lily. The others slept on, unaware that the two were no-where to be seen and Hermione slowly sat up, rubbing her eyes and running her hand through her mane of tangled hair, trying to get it to lay flat.

"Hmm…" Sirius shifted and Hermione remembered going to sleep in his arms after her nightmare. She sighed and stood slowly, careful not to drag the blanket off Sirius and made her way carefully through the mess that was their sleepover. She dragged herself up the stairs and opened her trunk, rifling through it for clothes for the day, the Sunday morning was bright and Hermione squinted her eyes to protect them from the searing light.

She pulled on a pair of jeans and a pink jumper with a brown hoodie over the top and shoved some trainers on her feet.

She practically flew down the staircase, awake now and ready for the day, hopping over the sleeping James, who rolled over at the same time and she almost landed on him, but kept her balance before running out the portrait. She skidded through the halls, almost bumping into some Sixth year Ravenclaw's before reaching her destination, rapping on the hard wooden door, waiting impatiently for it to open.

The second it did, Hermione pushed it open, shoving the door shut with her foot.

"Hermione, what—"

"It's not the same," she said, crossing her arms at him. Quinton blinked at her and sighed rubbing the back of his neck with his hand, his long grey top going past the tips of his fingers.

"What's not the same?" He asked, going back to his desk, feeling around for his glasses. She picked them up for him and handed them to him.

"This time-travelling thing…It's not the same. I'm still there, or my body is in 1997, I must be in a coma or something…The point is, my case is different to Ester's who disappeared from her time completely. I'm still there." She frowned and leaned against the desk, crossing her arms.

"This is giving me a headache," Quinton said, rubbing his forehead with his thumb and forefinger before sliding the glasses on.

"How do you know you're still there?" He asked, sitting at his desk, his shoulder length brown hair still a mess from when he slept on it funny.

Hermione stared at him and he stared back. "Aren't you just gonna read my mind?" She asked and Quinton smiled, shaking his head lightly.

"I can't betray your trust anymore, Hermione," he replied. "I need you to be able to tell me these things."

"Okay," Hermione sighed, sitting down in the seat in front of his desk. "Well, I heard them. My friends, Ron and Harry and others and they were telling me to wake up. They were visiting me in the hospital wing. I could smell it, hear Madame Pomfrey humming, she always hums that song 'Cauldron full of hot, strong love'. It was them. My body is back in 1998 but me, I am back here. That means I can get home, right? I have a body to get back to."

Quinton frowned and nodded slowly, his fingers lightly tapping out a beat on the desk in front of him.

"Yes." He answered and Hermione sagged in relief, "and no," Hermione groaned, knowing that that was coming.

"Why?" She ground out, annoyance seeping into her tone.

"Because you wont go back until you wake up from your coma and we don't know when that is." Quinton said, "times don't run parallel together, you know, they run at different speed, frequencies, sound. What your hearing could have been said months ago to them, but minutes ago to you or vice versa. You may have just gone to the hospital wing or been there for a matter of months. There's no way of knowing and therefore, you can't get home."

Hermione stared blankly at him before standing harshly.

"There isn't a way, is they? I'm the one making the decisions…What if this isn't real?" She asked hysterical, "what if I'm not in the past at all, what if I made this up? A place to go while I recover?" Quinton sighed and stood as well, heading towards Hermione who was babbling incoherently to herself.

"Hermione, listen to me," he grabbed her wrist and channelled his magic, not pleased with himself when Hermione whimpered from the fresh burning pain of her skin, "you feel that? That's real. You're here, now. This is 1977 and you're dating the real Sirius Black. You know it, why do you keep fighting yourself on this? It's getting a little annoying," he said frankly, smoke curling from her skin.

"Because, I cant help Harry anymore." She said, a tear rolling down her face.

"You can. From here. Maybe that's why you're here, to save the world. Change the future as you know it. I thought you had a plan Gran—Kingsley," he teased and Hermione's shoulders dropped and realization blossomed in her eyes.

"Your right," she said, breaking from his hold, his hand print burned into her skin. She danced out of the room and ran to the Gryffindor Common room. Quinton shook his head and he caught a glimpse of her mind, of a red haired boy sat by her bedside, gasping at the hand pront materializing on Hermione's wrist in 1997.

Oh yeah, he had a migraine.

**A/N: **_Okay, this is way short, but it's just for like, a filler chapter, to make it more clearer whats going on._

_She can change the future. She's in a coma in 1997 while her entity, her mind has sent her being to 1977 to change the future, that's why she's there. Whatever happens to her in 1977 and onwards will happen to her body in 1997, and vice versa, so she's twice as vulnerable as there's two of her._

_She can get home when she wakes up from the come in 1997. I'm sorry if anything confused you. I hope that makes it clearer. _

_There will be a much longer chapter next weekend (hopefully __)_

_Kelly _

_Xxx_

_P.S Has anybody seen Life on Mars or Ashes to Ashes? Because if you've seen that, you'll get what this is about. _


	21. Missing present and Extreme Pain

**Disclaimer: **_Don't own._

**Weight of the World**

**Chapter 21**

Hermione stumbled into the common room, shocked to see that everyone else was still fast asleep. A quick glance at her watch showed her that it was well past their sleep-in time and she sighed, ready to wake them up for the long day ahead of her.

She carefully climbed over the slippery material and made her way to the centre of the room, passing the temptation to stomp on Peter's fingers as she passed and instead, her foot pressed down on something else. She slowly moved her foot, hoping it wasn't something expensive or un-mendable and she saw it was a silver wrapped present, the one that she had passed opening to open up Sirius' instead. She bent down and picked it up, sitting on the table and carefully peeling the spell-o-tape off and ripping the paper she saw it was a chocolate frog. A very squished chocolate frog.

She frowned and turned it over, trying to see if there was any indication about who sent it, but there was nothing. Hermione shrugged to herself and ate a broken piece, letting the chocolate-y taste sooth her taste buds before she started to think of a way to wake everybody up.

"Mmm…Morning," her gaze snapped to Remus, who was moving under his sleeping bag and mound of blankets, his head popping up from the bundle, his hair in total dissary above his head.

"Morning, Remus," she smiled, standing and offering him a hand.

He grasped her hand and she pulled him up with one swift movement, "what time is it?" He asked, rubbing the bag of his neck and trying to stifle a yawn, his dark blue stripy shirt was tight across his chest and Hermione realised that he was actually well-built. She had known, of course, that he must be to be able to handle the transformation from human to werewolf, which is extremely painful, back to human again at the end of this night, he had to be fit.

Which, he undoubtably, was.

"It's half one in the afternoon." Hermione told him, "Lily and Rayne have gone, they were gone when I woke up, about an hour ago," she told him, nodding her head to the empty spaces on the floor.

"Ahh, they have escaped waking up duties, it wouild seem," he yawned again and staggered to the stairs of the boy's dormitories. "Have fun!" He said cheerfully, bounding up the stairs. Hermione felt her hair frizzle with annoyance and stomped her foot, a floorboard under her foot vibrating against James head and he snorted, rolling over and taking most of his cover with him, pulling it over his body and exposing his back. Hermione rolled her eyes as she read the writing "Jingle my bells" across the back in red glitter and lightly kicked his back, not hard enough to hurt, but hard enough to jar him awake.

"Muffin cakes are not for you," he murmured sleepily, his eye lids dropping again and Hermione lightly giggled.

Arms encircled her waist from behind and she was picked up off the floor. She screamed in surprise and James sat up, wand in hand, and swaying slightly from side to side, his eyes trying to track Hermione as she squealed and giggled, trying to get away from Sirius' grasp, who had a tight hold on her, nuzzling her ear affectionately.

"You know, I am not amused," Megara said, slowly sitting up, her brown hair tangled and knotted and make-up smudged across her face.

"Sorry," Sirius said absently, not even seeming to mean it, his grey eyes fixed on the side of Hermione's face.

"No, your not, you're too caught up in the girl in your arms," Kara piped up, climbing out of her sleeping bag and stretching.

"Will everybody please shut up?" Peter grumbled, burying deeper into the cloth and James staggered to his feet, pointing his wand at Peter's form and muttered a spell under his breath, laughing when a stream of f=cold water erupted from the end of his wand and soaked him. Peter squealed and jumped up, shivering and water dripping from hid clothes and rolling down his skin and Hermione saw a flash of anger and humiliation in his watery eyes as the other around her laughed.

She couldn't believe it, but she felt bad for him.

"You guys are jerks!" He shouted and ran up the stairs, the others increasing their laughter. Hermione chalked this up to an event that turned Peter and made him betray his friends.

"James, that was out of order," Hermione said, elbowing Sirius in the solar plexus lightly, but he got the message and dropped her to her feet, putting his arm around her shoulders.

"I know," James laughed, wiping away a tear from his eye, "but it was funny,"

*****

Sirius and Hermione were walking across the grounds towards the Black lake, their hands entwined and they were talking lightly, about this and that, about everything and nothing and they sat on the shore of the lake, staring out across the inky blackness.

"Hermione," Sirius started, his grey eyes flickering to hers. "I have to ask you something."

"You're not proposing are you?" She asked half seriously and Sirius chuckled.

"Not yet, sweetheart. No, I have to ask…Why are you really here?" Hermione blinked dumbly at him for a few seconds and Sirius felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up on end.

"I told you," she said slowly, "I got bullied. I decided to leave and come here, where I could actually make friends."

"But you already had friends." He pointed out.

"Yeah, but when coupled with some nasty, cruel Slyth—" she snapped her mouth shut and Sirius's eyes narrowed.

"Slytherin's?" He asked, his grey eyes sweeping over her figure, his mind trying to figure everything out and slip it into place.

"I don't mean Slytherin's." She back tracked, "I don't. The bullies just really remind me of them," she wrapped her arms around her middle and tilted her head back. No matter how much Sirius wanted answers, he decided stop pursuing it.

For today.

*****

December 5 1977

Hermione pulled the bag higher up onto her back, despite it being weightless, it still fell off her shoulder continuously and it annoyed Hermione to no end. She glanced around her, the hallway dark and dank, shadows creeping along the walls, elongated across the uneven stone.

Hermione sighed and walked quicker. She wasn't frightened, just…cautious. Especially since the Marauder's had pulled a trick on the Slytherin's that morning, and they were after revenge. Seeing as she and Lily were dating the two worst offenders, they were targeted as well.

Brilliant.

She was annoyed at herself for staying in the Library so long, and had only left when Madame Pince shoo-ed her out at midnight, calling her crazy and refusing to let her check out a few Transfiguration books until tomorrow morning. Hermione frowned as she thought of the librarian and heard a clatter behind her. Before she knew what she was doing, she spun around, her bag sliding from her shoulder and her wand in front of her, pressing into the chest of whoever had been behind her. Hermione started slightly, not knowing that he had been that close behind her.

"Pettigrew?" She gasped, "why are you following me like a stalker?" She asked, lowering her wand.

"Sorry, Hermione," he answered, his hands behind his back and scuffing his feet across the floor, his shoulder twitching slightly, "but I wasn't following you. I just came back from the kitchens," and he moved his hands from behind his back and showed her the food there, shrunken so he could carry more.

"Oh," she said, her brown eyes travelling to the wall, "well…We should probably go back to the Common Room," she said and lifted her bag off the floor, but she didn't lower her wand.

After minutes of silence and awkwardness, Peter broke the silence, "Why do you hate me?" Hermione stiffened and rolled her shoulders back.

"Because," she said simply, quickening her pace so that he was left behind.

"Because why?" He asked childishly and Hermione felt like banging her head repeatedly against the wall.

"I just d—" before she could finish her sentence, she was hit with a painful headache that made her vision white out, her breathe quicken, and knock her balance off centre. She stumbled into a wall, her wand and bag clattering to the wall and her heart beat sped up and she found herself taking great gulps of air.

"Hermione?" Peter asked fearfully and Hermione felt like she was in a box and the walls were closing in on her and a beeping filled her hearing; continuous, loud and annoying.

"Hermione!" He called but his voice was getting quieter and all Hermione could see was bright white and she whimpered as a pain hit her forehead, right between her eyes. She felt her body involuntarily curl on itself and she was vaguely aware of Peter running away, the food falling to the floor.

"_What's happening?"_

"_I don't know, Mr Potter, step back."_

"_Step back? I can't leave her Madame Pomfrey, what's happening?" _

"_I know you're upset, Harry, but you have to let Poppy do her job,"_

"_Thank you Minerva,"_

"_Help her,"_

"_I'm trying…Her heart…It's her heart!" _

"_Oi! What about her heart? Why aren't you answering me?" _

"_Calm down, Mr. Potter, or I shall personally throw you out of the Hospital wing," _

"_Poppy, come now, he's just panicked…"_

"_That's no excuse! I need room to work!"_

"_What are you doing to her?" _

"_This potion will slow her heart down and the wound on her head has split open again, I'm spelling it stitched again. Satisfied now?"_

"Merlin, Hermione, are you okay?" a voice floated into her subconscious and the white faded out as a hand landed on the back of her head, fingers lacing with the bushy curls.

"Of course she isn't okay, James! Can't you see she's obviously in pain? Hermione, sweetheart, tell me what's wrong." Sirius, her brain told her, it was Sirius, he was here, in front of her. Right there.

"Sirius," she gasped, her hand moving foreword and curling into the fabric of his robes and his hand folded over hers, cradling it.

"That's right, love, I'm here. Peter, run to the Hospital wing and tell Madame P we're coming, Remus, go tell the girls were we are, James help me get her there." Sirius barked and Hermione would have found it funny if it didn't feel like her heart was going to explode in her chest.

"Just breathe, Hermione. We're pulling you up now, okay? One…Two…Three," with one swift movement from James and Sirius, Hermione found herself stood up straight, and the whiteness returned. She bent foreword at the waist as a scream ripped through her vocal box at the pain in her head, her heart, her eyes.

"_It isn't working!" _

"_I can see that!"_

"_God, make her stop screaming!" _

"_Something in her body is rejecting the potion. The pain is coming full force, Mr. Weasley. We just have to let it run it's course until we can identify what's wrong with her."_

"---Shush, Hermione, We are almost there…" Was the last thing she heard before she succumbed to the blackness, the world fading out entirely around her.

*****

The sun streaming threw the windows across Sirius' face roused him from his slumber and he blinked his eyes open lazily, shutting them as the bright sun hit his eyes and he groaned and turned his head so it was hidden from the blinding whiteness of the sun.

It was when he moved his hand down to clutch at his blanket that he realised he was hunched over, and that he had a horrible crick in his back. His brain went into hurried overload, the cogs turning as he tried to picture why he wasn't laid down.

He realised with a gasp, remembering the helplessness that he felt as she screamed in pain and he sat up instantly, his gaze seeking out Hermione, who was laid out on the bed in front of him.

She was pale and her breathing was slightly laboured, but she was much better then when he had first laid eyes on her huddled form against the wall. He sighed and laid his hand over hers, his thumb rubbing circles lightly on her wrist and he shimmied his chair closer to her form.

"You shouldn't do that, you know," he said softly, his voice gravely from sleep, "You just about took ten years off my life," his other hand came up and stroked her curls back from her face, his hand moving down to cup the side of her neck. "Merlin, Hermione." He breathed and hung his head foreword, his hair creating a curtain around his face.

"Mr. Black? Why are you still here?" Madame Pomfrey bustled into the room, her whispy hair pulled up into a messy ponytail, her green eyes looking imploringly at him.

"Couldn't leave her," he shrugged, not removing his hands from her skin.

"Well, be that as it may, I think it's best if you leave," she said, "you have class in forty minutes," she said firmly, looking at the clock on the wall above the double oak doors and Sirius was tempted to fight her, to stay with Hermione, but he knew that she'd sleep the day away.

"Okay, Madame P." He said, standing and leaning foreword, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

He slowly made his way out the room, listening to the Medi-Witch 'hmmm' as she checked out Hermione's prone form. "See you tonight!"

With that, he left the Hospital Wing, heading to the Great Hall.

He decided that he was going to let Hermione tell him in her own time…Not anymore.

Now, he wanted questions answered.

**A/N: **_Okay! Not the best chapter…I hope it wasn't to confusing…Remember, what ever happens to her body in 1997 will happen to her in 1977._

_Anyways, I actually got it up when I said I would! Yay me!_

_Thanks for your reviews guys! I cherish everyone!_

_Mwah!_

_Kelly _

_xxx_


	22. December the seventh, seven forty five

**Disclaimer: **_Not mine…Unfortunately_

**Weight of the World **

**Chapter 22**

December 6 1977

Hermione sat down happily at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall, letting the chatter of the people around her soothe her as she watched them talk animatedly to one another. James and Lily were talking close, their words hushed; Remus and Peter were involved in a deep discussion about their only shared class, Defence Against the Dark Arts, which they had first thing today; Sirius and James were talking to Megara about their latest prank on the Slytherin's and Rayne, Kara and Thoma were discussing the upcoming Hogsmeade trip.

Hermione smiled at them all and unwrapped the chocolate frog that she had found on the table by her hospital bed when she woke up. She had no idea who was sending them, but decided that there would be no harm in eating it, and she took a bite, letting the chocolate tingle her taste buds. She glanced at Sirius who sat across from her and smiled as she remembered when she had woke up at six that night, he had been there, talking about some band called the rolling heads and bustling around her bed, his footfalls, sooth voice and rustling robes almost sending her back to sleep, but the need to see his face overwhelmed her sense slightly and her eyes opened. He whooped in excitement, hugged her tightly and dropped kisses across her forehead.

Quinton had stopped by as well, and filled Hermione in on what had actually happened to her. She had a link to her body still in 1997 and whatever happens to her body there will happen to her here and vice versa. It made sense to Hermione and she felt that having a conduit, and actual body to return to made it easier on her. Like having a safety net, back-up.

"You guys ready for D.A.D.A?" Lily asked, standing up and sweeping her red hair behind her ears, holding her hand out for James who took it, still detailing to look on Haydn Westwood's face when he entered the Great Hall only to be covered in a sticky substance, have feathers all over him, trip, and his pants rip at the back, although, Sirius pointed out, that was just a lucky bonus.

"Lily, there's another twenty minutes," Remus said, glancing at his watch, "the mail hasn't even come yet."

"Who needs mail?" Lily asked, tugging James who went, frowning slightly at his girlfriend's behaviour.

"If you get a letter, what do we do with it?" Thoma asked, picking at her tuna sandwich.

"Er…Give it to me in D.A.D.A. Come on, James," and she tugged him away. It was a testament to how much he liked her when he followed.

"Man, you are whipped!" Sirius called, laughing when Remus made a whipping noise and motion and when James turned and flipped them the bird, the three boys collapsed into giggles, leaning on each other for support.

Hermione cracked a smile at their antics and didn't feel the need to glare at Peter for once. A great bustling of wings could be heard and all heads automatically looked up to see the hundreds of owls spilling in from the window at the top of the Great Hall. They went to their respective owners or correspondents and dropped the letters, parcels and newspapers in front of them before flying out with a affectionate nip to the finger or a brush of wing across the top of their head.

The newspaper dropped in front of all the Gryffindor seventh years, except for Hermione who had yet to subscribe to the newspaper and she looked over Kara's shoulder, who she was sat next to and gasped as she read the headline.

"DEATHEATER ATTACK ON THE WINCHESTER HOME!"

Hermione's gaze snapped to the Ravenclaw table to see that it was vacant of both Olivia and Morgan and her eyes snapped back to the article.

"_On the night of the seventh December at precisely seven forty five, five Death Eater's broke into the Winchester home and killed Rosemary Winchester (44), her eldest daughter Kaelyn (22), her husband Noel (28), and their youngest daughter, Olivia (18). The auror's responded when they saw the Dark Mark hanging over their house in their home city of Hull and found them all, dead, not a mark on their bodies and is suggested they were killed instantly with the Killing curse. The man of the house, Micah, was found in the bathroom, the bath filled with his blood and was pronounced dead on the scene, but, by a stroke of good luck, he awoke, begging for his family. Their son, Justin, is being detained at Azkaban, as he is suspected of alerting the Death Eater's of his family's whereabouts. He was able to name two of his family's killers, Dolohov and werewolf Greyback and at this instant, auror's are out looking for them. Olivia had been at the house to celebrate her niece's second birthday as was to return to Hogwarts the next day, the child, Elizabeth, was found in the cupboard under the stairs, shaken, but unharmed. The Winchesters were a good family and the killers deserve to be brought to justice. _

Like a leak in the bottom of a cauldron, the laughter and light drained out of the Great Hall and Hermione felt tears well in her eyes for the Ravenclaw, who had helped the Gryffindor's on numerous occasions, who was Thoma's best friends, who had Sirius' heart fro a year…She was dead.

Sirius dropped the newspaper and stood up, ran a hand threw his shoulder length black hair and walked out of the Great Hall, not looking back to see if anyone was watching or following, his head held high, eyes straight ahead and his back ramrod straight.

Hermione watched him go, knowing that he would want to be alone for now as he had known these people. God, the child was only two years old…A tear fell down her face as Thoma stifled a sob and brought a hand to her mouth. Her boyfriend, Matthew, stood and made his way to them, concern in his bright blue eyes.

"I don't…I cant…Why?" She gasped, falling into Matthew's arms and crying into his chest. Hermione could barely handle the scream's coming from her as she cried for the loss of her best friend, who knew all her secrets, who she had known since they were in primary school together. Hermione knew this girl, had talked to her and befriended her and got advice from her…Now she was gone.

What about Morgan? He was going to join the order, become a undercover Death Eater and relay information to the order about their next plan of action and, if the auror's went their in time, participate in the acts, which could range from torturing a man and his family, to raping a woman to killing a small child.

Hermione stood shakily, glancing at Rayne and Kara who were crying on each other and Megara who stared at the piece of paper like it had insulted her, to Remus who looked like somebody had killed his best friend and Peter, whose eyes had glazed over with tears.

She had to get away.

She walked unsteadily to the huge double oak doors and to D.A.D.A, not feeling, not thinking…Just going through the motions of what she think she should do. She found James and Lily making out at the door, James on the floor, his back to the wall and Lily straddling him, holding onto his shoulders. Hermione made no move to stop them and instead juts stood there, waiting for them to notice her.

In unison, they both broke the kiss and glanced at her. They instantly jumped apart, Lily looking embarrassed while James looked smug; Lily smoothed her hair out while James made his even messier and he smirked.

"Hermione? What's wrong?"

This shouldn't be right. This is wrong. So very very wrong…

"It's Olivia," the words felt foreign in her mouth.

"What about her? Is she okay?" Lily asked, her eyebrows joining together in the middle as she frowned.

"No," she said, blinking rapidly to try and dry her eyes, "no, she---Merlin, she's dead."

*****

Quinton put down the paper sadly and looked over at his wife who was brushing her hair back into a ponytail ready for the days lesson. The pang of sadness that he felt for his student was nothing compared to the anger that he felt for Hermione. She must have known and yet, she did nothing, absolutely nothing to stop it.

"Hailey!" He called out, reaching out for his watch and snapping it onto his wrist, "I'll be right back, darling!" He didn't wait to hear her response and instead, left the room with a mission to ask the witch every single thing that was going to happen.

And they were going to stop it.

He opened the door and almost walked into the sobbing redhead and messy haired boy, holding each other as she spilled her tears and Quinton's ice blue eyes snapped up to see Hermione, staring blankly into space, blinking slow every now and then.

"Okay, I wager that you heard about Olivia. Lesson has been cancelled today…For the rest of the week in fact until we can come to terms with this loss. Hermione." Hermione didn't move, but blinked. "Hermione!" He barked and her brown eyes shifted to his instantly and she came out of her stupor. "Get in here," he said, holding the door open and letting Hermione through first.

"What do you want, Quinton?" She asked tiredly and Hailey bustled out of the office behind the classroom, stopping short once she saw them.

"Oh…Sorry, I was just on my way to the kitchens. I need chocolate. Coming?" She asked Quinton, pulling the sleeves of her purple robes down her hands, curling around the edges with the tips of her fingers.

"I'll be there soon, Darling," he said absently and Hailey frowned. She sidled closer and kissed his earlobe and his arm automatically slid around her waist.

"Hurry," she whispered, her tongue snaking out and lightly tracing the shell of his ear and Quinton closed his eyes.

Hermione was embarrassed…Well, actually she was mortified at their actions, but she recognized what Hailey was doing. She was marking her territory, letting her know that Quinton was taken and even though Hermione was most definitely not a threat, she could see why Hailey would think that.

She left with a lingering kiss on Quinton's cheek and a nod to Hermione as she left the door wide open.

"Er…Sorry about my wife," he said, his skin heating up and reddening and Hermione smiled, pleased that she was gone and she didn't have to watch…that…anymore.

"No worries," she said absently.

"Now," he said, moving to the door and closing it, the bang echoing around the room, "I want you to tell me absolutely everything about everyone that you know." She blinked in horror at his request and he grabbed a chair, spun it on the let back leg and straddled it, his brown hair falling around his face, creating a curtain, his arms folded on top of the back. "Now."

*****

The shoe went sailing through the air, the laces flapping back as it gained speed and it hit the mirror in front of him with a resounding smash, cracks forming, reflecting how Sirius felt inside. It was slightly poetic.

Sirius growled low in his throat and reached for the closest object, ready to lob that across the room when the door creaked open and Thoma popped her head around the wood, her bright orange hair having lost its brightness and life and her face was red from crying.

They recognized each other…They had both lost a loved one today. Sirius could barely have the energy to think about how Morgan must be feeling and he felt selfish for being thankful that he didn't love her as much as he once had, back at the beginnings of their relationship, when Sirius had thought she was just another notch in his bedpost she had proved him wrong by being so much more then that.

Like Hermione was to him now.

What if it had been Hermione? It could have been, his brain voiced, she could have just easily be celebrating a relative's birthday when the cloaked bastard raided the home, killing each and every one of them. He closed his eyes tight at the thought hoping to block the image and lobbed the box across the room that Sirius knew held James' prized Chocolate frog collection and took slight satisfaction in watching the box shatter.

"Sirius," Thoma whispered, moving foreword cautiously, like he was a wild animal ready to pounce and attack. Which, he supposed, he was.

Why was Thoma here? Where was Hermione? Oh, God, where was Hermione? He paced in tight circles like a caged animal and he sneered to himself. What had he been doing when Olivia was killed? He had been laid out on the hospital bed with Hermione, both turned on their sides facing each other and their hands interlaced between them. They were talking about the future, Sirius remembered, and had laughed when she had said that Voldemort was still roaming around in twenty years.

She was being slaughtered.

"It had been quick, Sirius," Thoma said lightly and he growled again, turning on his heel, his fist lashing out and it connected with the mirror again, parts falling to hit the floor, the sound musical in his ears.

A hand held his shoulder lightly and he turned, throwing the hand off and reaching for something else, but a hand held his and pulled him back and foreword into a hug, delicate arms encircling him and a hand at the back of his head. Because of the height difference, he was bent, his back hunched up and his forehead pressed into the curve of a neck and shoulder.

"I don't," he struggled against the hands holding him, and was surprised when he felt the body shaking. He stilled his movements and his hands gripped her waist, holding her tightly.

"God, Thoma, this is so messed up," he gasped, squeezing his eyes tightly shut so as not to cry, to help her, but she just shushed him. He felt the damn break, his legs collapsed and they ended up on the floor, holding each other tightly, drawing comfort.

It wasn't fair. Olivia had been brilliant, amazing…It had taken him so long to let go of her, but he did.

For Hermione.

Please, don't let the same thing happen to her.

Please.

**A/N: **_Okay, my friend Olivia will be slightly horrified that I just killed her off, but I had to do it. To remind everyone that these are dangerous times…Plus, to move the story along a bit, now that Quinton's demanding answers and Sirius will be soon, who knows whats going to happen…Well, I do, but that's not the point :P_

_Oh, BTW, it is so hard to write sad scenes when your happier then a chipmunk and when your listening to an up-beat song that lifts your spirits. I know the obvious answer is "change to a sad song" but I was singing along, all happy and cheery :D_

_Thanks for reading! _

_Love you guys!_

_Mwah!_

_Kelly_

_xxx_


	23. Pinata's and the Prewitts

**Disclaimer: **_Sirius is not mine. If he was, I wouldn't be writing about him. None of the other characters are mine (with the exception of names unfamiliar to the HP readers) but the plot is mine. Enjoy!_

**Weight of the World**

**Chapter 23**

Quinton whistled low in his throat when Hermione finished telling the Potter's tale.

"So, Peter sold them out," he said, his left eye twitching as he tapped his pencil on his desk. They had been there for an hour, Hermione moving from one painstaking story to another about the people she knew and their stories.

She hadn't told the most painful one yet.

"Yes. He was corrupted, he doesn't turn sides until he's at least twenty, but he's starting to turn now." Hermione said, leaning back in her seat, her hands folded delicately in her lap, her ankles crossed. Like slow movie credits, tears streamed down her cheeks.

"That's…Wow…I would never imagined…What happens to Harry?" He asked, his piercing blue eyes seemingly looking right threw her.

She knew, the second that he's demanded answers, that she had to tell him everything, share the burden, let somebody else help her carry the world.

That, plus he could just read her mind.

"Harry," the name slid off her tongue so smoothly and Hermione felt a pang in her heart for the boy. He should be here, getting to know his parents and Sirius, getting to understand them. Not her. "He goes to live with Lily's sister and husband and child. He's submitted to a life of being put down, always being second best. He goes to Hogwarts, gets in Gryffindor, meets me and Ron, falls in love with Ginny, fights Voldemort numerous amounts of times, becomes Triwizard champion and a honest, good person."

"Merlin," Quinton said, slumping over his desk. "That's so much for a boy of eighteen to do."

"Oh, there's more. In our first year we faced a three-headed dog, devil snare, birds that were keys, a giant live chess set, a riddle with potions, Voldemort himself on the back of our D.A.D.A professor, and became the youngest Quidditch player in Hogwarts of a century. In our second year he fought a basilisk that was petrifying muggle-born's, including myself, with Godric Gryffindor's sword. In third year, he defeated a hundred Dementers at once and could produce a fully corporeal patronus. In fourth year he was Triwizard champion, facing Voldemort for a second time. In fifth year he infiltrated the ministry to save his Godfather, to get a prophecy. In sixth year he was right in his suspicions of a fellow student, and gathered and destroyed some Horcruxes."

"You say all that as if your proud of him," Quinton said, a smile on his face.

"I am. He's like my little brother. The one I never wanted but got anyway." She said fondly, remembering the good times that they had shared. "I need him, you know. In six years I haven't been away from him for so long. Its…Unnerving." She finished, averting her gaze.

"I can imagine it to be. You love him?" He asked.

"Of course I do." Hermione answered instantly, "I do. I'd die for him, as I know that he would for me."

"It's just so much for one boy to have to go through. How can he still be happy after all that?"

"Because he's strong. James and Lily should be so proud of him." She said, then her head flicked up and gazed at him…Almost as if she could see through him. "They are proud of him," she corrected herself.

Quinton opened his mouth to ask what happened to Sirius and Peter, but a high-pitched ringing interrupted him. "Oh, that means we have to go to the Great –"

"I know what it means Quinton. I have been at this school for six year now," she said quietly, standing from her seat in front of the desk and slowly moving around to the door.

She had a strong desire to see Sirius.

"Hermione," a hand dropped on her shoulder, heavy and Hermione turned her head to the side, "tomorrow, when we'd have Defence, you have to come here. There's so much stuff to go over, its unbelievable," he murmured to her before pulling to door open swiftly and walking out, his legs moving quickly to get to the Great Hall in time as he joined the bustle of students, raging from 11 to 18 to get there, to see what the Headmaster so desperately wanted of them.

"Hermione!" Hermione turned to see Thoma stood there, tears tracks staining her cheeks, her hand at odd angles and her clothes rumpled. "Sirius wants you." She said urgently, gripping her arm and together, they fought the sea of students.

*****

Sirius stared at the floor, his elbows on his knees and his hands folded in front of him as he sat, hunched over on the side of his bed. The need he felt to see Hermione was overwhelming but he forced himself to sit still, not move an inch as she was perfectly fine. He saw her, not forty minutes ago, eating the damned chocolate frog left on her side table for when she awoke…He wished that he knew who gave it to her. Somebody knocked n the door and Sirius barely moved, his ears twitching slightly as his senses involuntarily picked up breathing and slight scuffling behind the door.

"Sirius! Sirius come on, open the d—" before she finished the door flew open and Sirius pulled her in, holding her tightly, his hands moving up and down her back and into her hair, holding her desperately, breathing harshly through his nose.

"Hermione…God, Hermione," he breathed, his grip almost painful.

"Sirius…Shh, It's okay, I swear it's okay…" she soothed, her arms wrapping around his waist, her head burying in his chest.

"I swear to you, Hermione, even if this doesn't work out, even if we have a painful break-up that results in never talking to each other…Even if we make it through this and get married and have three children…I swear I will never let anything happen to you. Ever." He said with such conviction, such passion that it sent chills down her body.

"I believe you," she whispered. His hands cupped her cheeks and pulled her up, feeding her hot, desperate kisses, fuelled by his sadness, his grief, his sorrow for the loss of his lost love.

And Hermione returned them, by her own sadness. She could have stopped this, but she chose not to. Yes, she didn't know when and yes she didn't know how. But she could have tried.

She'd be damned if she'd make that mistake again.

*****

"We are gathered her today to mourn the loss of a fellow student. It is regrettable that this had to happen. Olivia Winchester was a gifted individual whom was loved by many." The Great Hall was covered in drapes of black, the weather reflecting the mood settled in the huge room, the thunder cracking and the lightning blinding. The four tables had been transformed into hundreds of chairs, which each held a student and the teachers were all sat at the teacher's desk at the front. Beside her, Sirius was staring blankly ahead, his hand on her knee, squeezing lightly. Hermione glanced around the Great Hall, but she couldn't see Morgan.

"She fell at the hands of the Death Eaters. And I am saddened to say many of you will." Beside her, Sirius breathed in sharply.

Hermione was amazed by how truthful and honest he was, not shadowing the inevitable and her respect for the man rose.

"It is painful for me to announce another student dead, and she will be greatly missed by many, if not all of you." He turned and stood beside a golden plaque behind the teachers desk and pointed his wand. The plaque glowered red for a moment before settling back down to its golden hue. "Olivia Winchester, and her family, will always be remembered as their names will forever be engraved on this plaque, along with the other whom have died before her." Sirius took a deep breath and stood up slowly, attracting the attention of the people behind and to the side of him.

"Er…Professor?" He said, clearing his throat and projecting his voice loud enough to be heard from the front, "can I say a few words?"

Dumbledore smiled and nodded, stepping back and offering him to say what he needed to say.

Sirius nodded back and moved through the chairs, climbing over people, creating slight chaos as he stood on Wynter Phillips foot and knocked Aaron Townsend trilby hat off, causing involuntary chuckles to pass by students lips as they watched with humour.

He finally got the front and turned around with a alight flourish and arrogance that he still carried from his aristocrat pureblood line, despite his hatred for that past life.

"Okay…Lets be real. Most of you here don't know who we're talking about. Yeah, you might have a glimpse of her or recognize her name, or be in her house, but you don't know who she is. You see, Olivia was the girl who was the girl who never wore her robes to the first meal back, neither did her friend Thoma, because they believed that they had to keep their muggle roots alive. She was the girl who danced to her next lesson, the girl who got engaged at eighteen years old." He recalled sadly, loosing his arrogance slightly as he remembered his ex-girlfriend. "She was also the girl who loved to laugh," he said and nodded towards the back of the hall. All students swivelled in their chairs in time to see hundreds of pieces of confetti fell from the ceiling and a piñata followed.

"No, we won't mourn her death. She'd kick our assess if we did that. She'd want us to laugh and dance and sing to our hearts content. So we're gonna celebrate her life. We're not happy that she's gone, but we're happy, and so thankful that she was here. We never celebrated her life, so we're gonna do it now." James, Remus and Peter joined Sirius at the front and they grinned at each other. "We're the Marauders, and we will make sure she'll never be forgotten. She doesn't need her name on a plaque for us to remember her – Every time we laugh we will. Because she was the epitome of happiness." A hush fell over the students and they all sat in companionable silence, letting Sirius' words wash over them.

Sirius smiled and produced a bat from behind his back and a blindfold from behind him. "So…Who wants to go first?"

They stared in shock before Thoma stood up and slowly brought her hands together in a clap. Then another. Then another until the rest of the Gryffindor girls stood and applauded the man before them. He looked shocked at the result but grinned and bowed low. Matthew stood and joined them, as well as his friends and the rest of the Ravenclaw's, the Hufflepuff's…Wynter stood and applauded, bringing the rest of the Slytherin's with her. The Gryffindor's whooped and cheered and a chant of "Olivia" filled the Hall.

Sirius was right. We can mourn in our own time, pass the grief and move on…But if Olivia knew they were still sad about it years later, she would just scream at them, call them idiots. Its sad that she had to die, she had loved life so much. At first, Hermione thought that Sirius' speech was totally inappropriate, but the more she thought about it, the perfect it was. This…This was Olivia, and they were celebrating that. A first year Hufflepuff was spun in a circle three times and left wandering with a bat, trying to find the piñata.

"You know, love, I am a total hypocrite," Sirius said, sliding his arms around her shoulder and leaning on her, slightly. "I am not okay with this."

Giving him comfort and threading her arms about her waist, she pulled him closer to her. "I know, Sirius. I know." He closed his eyes tight and rested his cheek on the top of her head. "I don't expect you to…Nobody expects you to. You don't have to be a Marauder all the time, you know." She said softly, turning her face to nuzzle his neck.

"Olivia preferred that side of me," he said softly.

"That she did. But you cant be like this forever."

"We'll mourn, deal, move on…I just thought I'd start the process." He said, shrugging, turning so his nose landed in her hair and he breathed in deeply, her completely unique scent amazed his senses.

"You know…Don't let the applause infiltrate your already huge ego. They were applauding Olivia," she said teasingly and he chuckled in her hair.

"You are something else." Hermione smiled and pulled back, leaning up for a chaste kiss on his lips.

"I guess I am,"

"Tease," he shot back as he felt her hands slid under his outer robe. Hermione laughed to herself, knowing that she was anything but.

*****

It had been a week since news of Olivia's death and Morgan had still not returned. He had, however, heard about the speech that Sirius gave and sent him a long letter starting out with horror at his words, but finishing with the realization of his actions, and even thanking him for it. He also dropped a note that he'd be back by next week.

Thoma was doing much better as well, and it seems that Sirius's plan of starting the grieving process worked, despite the fact that she sometimes snuck into the Ravenclaw tower and slept in Olivia's bed.

But Sirius…Sirius seemed to go into a flunk at the mere mention of her name. "It hurts," he told her once, "I knew everybody…Did you know her sister was pregnant? I swear, if I ever catch sight of that weasel, Justin, I will have his head." Hermione caught her first glimpse of the temperamental Sirius filled with revenge and anger, and truthfully it frightened her, knowing that this was the reason that he was in Azkaban.

It wasn't the fact she was dead that hurt him, he could handle it. It'd take him time, but he could deal. No, it was the betrayal of a family member that sent him over the edge, the gripped his morals and twisted them around.

He hated Justin, just like he would Wormtail.

She thought it was slightly odd, that History would repeat itself with James and Lily, how they were betrayed and their family broken, their lives destroyed.

Everybody in their group was solemn and Hermione hated herself for not being able to stop it…She didn't know when it was going to happen, just that it would.

Sirius was going to see Heather, Olivia's niece who had been found safe in the cupboard under the stairs and Sirius requested something from her.

"Come with me."

"Sirius, I don't know them. It would be disrespectful, don't you think?"

"I want – I need you there," he corrected, his grey eyes avoiding her and Hermione felt a pang in her heart at how much this had actually broken the elusive Sirius Black. Azkaban hadn't broken this man…And if Hermione had her way, he'd never see the inside of the Godforsaken place.

"Okay," she agreed, a small smile on her face as he pressed a kiss to her cheek. Hermione knew that he was grateful that she agreed to go with him and he let out a breath.

"Thoma's coming as well, but mostly to talk to Micah – Olivia's dad. He is her Godfather."

Hermione nodded and reached for his hand. Maybe if she could convince him of how important he was to everybody in his life, maybe he wouldn't feel the need to go after Peter if she couldn't stop the future.

"I just hope nobody else dies as well. I don't think I could take it," he said, pulling her close and dropping a kiss to her temple. They walked to the Gryffindor Common Room and Hermione left him at the portrait of the fat lady to get to Quinton for a new Future Lesson, as he referred to it, although she was the teacher and he was the student, learning the tricks of the trade.

"You know, its amazing how one little boy could defeat the Dark Lord. I mean, he wont exactly be powerful at one, will he?" He asked, his hand scratching the back of his head and his pencil tapped against the wood on his desk in thought.

"Harry's special. He can do that, and he will…I want to stop it, I truly, truly do, but can you see why James and Lily's death has to happen?" She asked desperately, needing somebody to understand her turmoil.

"Yes, Hermione, I understand. But, wouldn't you like to know if you were going to die?" Quinton asked, leaning foreword, looking over his glasses at her.

"Of course I would." Hermione said absently, "but that's not the point. If I can get the Horcruxes, I can save them. If not, Harry has to get rid of him…He's the safety net…I mean, what if I came back in time before and this all happened before? Maybe I'm the one who caused the death…You know, go back in time to stop it and instead, you're the reason it happened sort of thing?" Quinton's facial expression went from inquisitive to pensive as he pondered her words.

"I can see why you're hesitant to do anything…Maybe you should start small? Save somebody that wont effect the future to much…Oh! Like Fabian and Gideon Prewitt!" He cried. "If you save them, then you'll know that you can change the future! What do you say Hermione? Fancy a trip to save some redheads?" He asked, standing and, not giving her permission to continue, stood and grabbed his cloak.

"Er…Quinton, you know they don't die now, right?" Hermione said wearily, hoping that he wasn't going to force her out of the castle.

"Of course they don't. I want to meet them," he said, taking his glasses off and fluffing his hair at the back, he gestured to the door with his arm, "after you, m'lady."

"I cant just leave the castle, Quinton!" She said, slightly outraged at his actions.

"Of course you can, you're with me," Quinton dismissed, "go get your cloak and meet me at the front doors in twenty. If your not there, I'll just think of some way to embaress you. I can just read your mind, you know."

"You wouldn't!" Hermione hissed, not knowing if he was telling the truth or not.

"I would."

Not willing to risk it, Hermione turned on her heel and stormed to the door, following the corridors to get the Gryffindor common room, annoyed at Quinton's bribery.

She gave the Fat Lady the password and smiled when she was permitted entrance, her smile widening at the sight of Sirius, laid across the couch, his eyes closed, hiding his grey coloured eyes from sight as he slept, peaceful and away from the pain of Olivia's death. A quick glance at her watch told her that it was only six o' clock at night, and she carefully walked past him, up the girls staircase and she grabbed her sheet, waving to Rayne who was busy writing a letter a letter, presumably to Xenophilius, took her cloak and bounded quietly down the stairs, taking a moment to gaze at him, taking in his black, shoulder length hair, messed up from his position, his chiselled nose and jaw that just oozed arrogance and his long eyelashes brushing gently against his cheeks as his eyes moved under his closed eyelids as he entered REM sleep.

She gently folded the blanket over him, her instincts telling her to tuck him in, to keep him safe…Something that a blanket would fail to do, but it was nice to have that slight reassurance before she pressed a chaste, sweet kiss to his forehead.

The portrait opened harshly and Hermione jumped at the force of the sound to see Peter looking sulky and downtrodden, like he was a child and somebody had stolen his favourite toy.

Being a rat for twelve years did nothing for him, Hermione thought as she put a finger to her lips to signal him to be quiet. He got the message and raised his eyebrows quickly, lowering them just as fast to convey to her that he got her message without words.

He was…Not cute, Hermione decided, but…Well, like a child that everyone thought was precious, but you thought was okay…That's how Peter looked now. His head seemed to be too big for his body and his dark blond, almost brown hair was floppy and falling into his watery blue eyes constantly. Hermione was actually shocked to realise that blue was the eye colour that the animagus held.

She nodded to Peter, resting her hand on Sirius' forehead quickly before leaving and automatically waving a goodbye to Peter.

Quinton so owed her for this.

*****

Once the feeling of being squeezed through a pipe had passed, Hermione took a deep breath and tightened her grip on Quinton's arm to regain her balance. He gave her a moment to recuperate, but only a moment as he began walking briskly down the pavement, his hands behind his back and Hermione was oddly reminded of Dumbledore. All he needed was a long silver hair and beard and he was set.

"Quinton, I think it's nice that you want to meet them and all," she said, catching up to him whilst trying to quell the nausea, "but what are we going to say? We cant exactly say 'oh, hello Fab and Gid! Just so you know, I'm from the future and you're gonna die on Monday! Ha, anyways, nice to see you!' Somehow, I don't think that's gonna go over to well." Hermione hated being sarcastic like that, but she hated being dragged out of the castle when she could be with Sirius o her friends more.

"Don't be silly," he said airily, not bothered by her snarky-ness and knocked on the door. Hermione blinked in realization that they were stood in front of a house, a lopsided house that couldn't possibly be held up on its own. The door was half purple and half red and, if it wasn't for the surrounding houses, Hermione would have thought that it was the burrow.

"Just a minute!" A voice called out and Quinton and Hermione waited while moving objects could be heard.

A slot in the door moved open so suddenly that Hermione jumped and clutched her chest above her heart in an instinct to stop her heart beating so fast.

Brown eyes narrowed at her from behind the door and she decided that she was very uncomfortable.

"Fabian! Or are you Gideon?" Quinton asked, peering into the whole before the slot slammed shut again, not scaring Hermione as much as it did.

"Who are you?" He shouted through the wood.

"Oh, forgive me, my name is Quinton Timble, I am the professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts, this is my student Hermione."

The brown eyes looked at them critically, until he saw the Gryffindor crest on Hermione's black cloak.

"Fine," one of the Prewitt brothers said and the door unlocked.

The man holding the door open was short and stocky, with freckles dusted over his nose and a head of russet red hair that resembled Fred and George so much, that Hermione thought it was them. Or, well, one of them.

Quinton smiled and made to step foreword when the tip of a wand was pushed into his chest, halting his movements.

"Forearm." The Fred and George-look-a-like said, a slight growl to his voice. He gave Hermione the once over and posed her as a non-threat, letting her by without another glance. Quinton sighed and rolled up the sleeve of both his left and his right and showed his pale, white unblemished forearms.

The Fred and George-look-a-like, (Hermione wished that she knew which one it was) lowered his wand and smiled happily, the threatening, dangerous tone surrounding him evaporated within an instant.

"Sorry, mate, can't be too careful," he said cheerily, clapping Quinton on the back and nearly knocking him over with the force of it. He was definitely strong.

"Oh – Well –" Quinton stammered, balancing his glasses on his nose properly, "we just stopped by. I was having a conversation with Arthur Weasley the other day and he mentioned you, so I thought I'd drop in, get a full low down on the Weasley/Prewitt clan." Quinton said it so convincingly, that Hermione almost believed him.

"Well, what about little miss Gryff over here? Why is she here?"

"Oh, she grabbed onto me as I was apparating, not knowing that I was about to do so," he said, brushing it off, "I thought it'd be best if I brought her instead of leaving her outside."

The Prewitt brother nodded and pulled up a chair, one arm resting on the table, the other reaching for a butterbeer.

"Sit!" He gestured and Hermione instantly sat down, slightly afraid.

Quinton coughed and the Prewitt's attention was switched to him. "I was wondering…Are you Gideon? Or Fabian?"

He threw his head back and laughed, the sound rumbling through his chest and echoing through his house. "Oh, I'm Gideon. Fabian's in the shower probably, shaving and putting on moisturiser." He said in a girly voice before shaking his head and tipping the drink back.

Hermione spluttered a laugh, trying to keep her chuckles under check and Gideon smiled at her.

"This girl has a sense of humour," he nodded and offered her the drink. She politely declined.

"Well, what do you wanna know?" He asked Quinton, and Quinton launched into questions about his hobbies, past-times and family. Gideon answered them all, but kept one eye on Hermione as she let her gaze slide across the room.

Her honey coloured eyes landed on a picture frame and she stood up to see that it was of Molly and Arthur, standing proudly outside the burrow, two boys stood in front, one with long red hair, the other shirt and wavy. The second boy had so many freckles he looked tanned and the long haired boy was looking at another boy, who was sucking on a lollipop and looking away, an inquisitive look in the two or three years olds eye. Hermione had seen this picture before, along with the other three that added a new child to the picture.

"That's my sister," Gideon said, suddenly behind her. "Love her to pieces. Arthur, good man, wont let her fight. He has his priorities right," he said, shoving a hand through his thick red locks.

"How old are you?" Hermione asked. Mrs Weasley must be well into her thirties when this picture was taken, but this man, who Hermione always assumed was older then Molly, couldn't be older then twenty five.

"I'm twenty-three. That surprise you?" He asked, leaning against the wall.

"Okay, listen, this is gonna sound completely insane, and you wont believe me, but on Monday, you and you're brother should stay inside." She said involuntarily. Hearing that he was so young just made her snap and the words slipped out of her mouth.

He blinked at her, the drink half way to his mouth before he slowly moved it down and he looked at her with his piercing deep brown eyes.

"Why would you say that?" He asked, suddenly suspicious.

"I just…I know that Antonin Dolohov's out there, and he wants you and your brother dead." She said, hoping that this was going to change history. She didn't know why Quinton wanted her to come here tonight, but she didn't think it was for her to tell him.

"How do you know that?" He growled, his voice so low that Hermione almost didn't catch it.

"I just do!" She said, looking left and right for an escape route, but couldn't seem to find one.

"Forearm." She hastily shoved her sleeves up her arms and Gideon nodded, before pushing off the wall and moving to the front door, polishing off his drink and holding it open. "I'll see you around." The dismissal was apparent and Hermione found herself practically flying out of the door. Gideon Prewitt was an accomplished auror who knew many curses to get you to talk, and Hermione didn't want to be on the receiving end of them.

"Well, that went very, very badly," Quinton said, shaking his head and rubbing his temple.

"What are we gonna do now?" Hermione asked, stamping her feet.

"…Where do they die?"

*****

When Hermione entered the Gryffindor Common Room, she expected to collapse on the sofa, hopefully where Sirius was still asleep, and cuddle up to him. What she didn't expect, however, was to enter a room where the tension was so thick, if you cut it with a knife it would just fill again, the worry pooling around the room was enough to make Hermione's breath catch. Sirius had a large piece of parchment spread across the table top, his eyes darting about tirelessly, never settling on one place long enough and Hermione knew it was the Marauder's map.

"Sirius?" She whispered and he whipped his head up so fast, she was amazed that he didn't get whiplash. In a flash he was by her side, his hands reaching up to touch her, as if testing if she was real.

"Where were you?" He asked, his eyes loosing the Marauder spark.

"I was with Quinton going over some tactics. Sirius, I'm sorry," she said, settling her hand on his chest and he pulled her to him. She could hear his heart beat fast like a jackhammer in his chest and she hated herself for making him worry. It was because of Olivia's death that he was so worried that he acted like this, and Hermione accepted it, letting him do what he needed to. He dropped little kisses across her face, her forehead, her cheeks, the bridge of her nose and her eyelids before their lips met, drawing out the sadness and desperation of them with a clash of lips, teeth and tongues, both battling out for victory, for dominance.

They fell back on the couch, Hermione straddling Sirius, her knees on either side and his hands wrapped around her waist, pulling her impossibly close.

Their heated kiss tuned down, ending with just the light brushing of lips before Sirius smiled and listed to the side, taking her with him and turning her, so her back was to him and she was facing the back if the couch. He spooned her, his arms around her waist and chest, caging her in, protecting her.

"Tell me where your going Hermione," he whispered against her temple before extinguishing the fire with a spell and tapping his wand lightly to the map, whispering the elusive words to make the ink vanish and render it a spare bit of parchment.

"Mischief Managed."

**A/N: **_Olivia asked for her funeral (kind of) to be like that, in real life as well as the story and I decided that, since I did kill her, I would indulge her fantasies and give her a piñata. _

_I hope you liked this chapter. Next chapter will determine if Hermione can indeed change the future, or if she's part of the cause of the events…Hope you read it! _

_Thanks for reviewing!_

_Kelly_

_xxx_


	24. Can we change History?

**Disclaimer: **_Do not own._

**Weight of the World **

**Chapter 24**

When Hermione woke, it was to a bustling in the room, which was so distracting that Hermione was unable to go back to sleep. She slowly sat up and rubbed her eyes, the dark blue blanket that was wrapped around her pooled around her waist.

"Sirius, what are you doing?" She asked, watching Sirius pace back and forth.

"We're gonna go see Heather today," Sirius said tiredly, "I'm just waiting for the right moment to wake you up…I didn't want to, you look beautiful while you're sleeping." He said sincerely, his grey eyes managing to get their spark back when Sirius saw the blush creeping up her cheeks.

"Well, thank you Mr. Black. Your not so bad yourself," she said, standing and walking towards him, whispering a quick spell to get rid of morning breath and kissed him on the lips tenderly.

"Mr. Black is my father," he said, his eyes locking on hers, "you can call me Sirius," he kissed her again, moving his head to the side to avoid bumping noses. This kiss was heated, his lips moving sensually against hers, coaxing them open, running his tongue along the edge of them, begging for entrance. She readily accepted, running her own tongue along his, massaging it. His hands gripped her waist tightly, bringing her closer until his belt buckle pressed into her stomach and she couldn't be any closer. The kiss didn't speed up, but was slow and carnal, Hermione's stomach twisted into knots and her toes curled against the feeling running throughout her body. He broke the kiss and leaned his forehead against hers and Hermione found herself gasping slightly.

"Wow…God…"

Sirius smiled wolfishly and kissed the tip of her nose. "That name works for me to,"

Sirius gripped Hermione's hand tightly as Dumbledore threw the Floo Powder in the fireplace and Sirius called out the 'Vine Home', ignoring the slight ash that flew in his mouth.

The many fireplace appeared before them, whizzing past so fast that if you blinked then you'd miss it. The view before them changed and Sirius smiled at the familiar pale blue walls with chocolate brown trimming and he stepped out of the fireplace only to be barrelled into, tiny arms wrapping around his legs and nearly knocking him of balance and, if Hermione hadn't been holding his hand, he'd have face planted on the chocolate brown carpet.

Sirius grinned, the act coming naturally to him as he looked down at the little girl and he let go of Hermione's hand, bending down and wrapping his arms under the little girls thighs and lifting her off the ground where she straddled Sirius innocently, her big green eyes looking imploringly at him and her dirty blonde hair shoved into a hasty bobble at the back of her head. Sirius chuckled and bounced her slightly, moving into the room further and Hermione hesitantly followed.

She sat on the chocolate brown couch next to him hesitantly, watching as he hummed under his breath, listening to her chatter about her day, mumbling nonsense. Every once in a while, he'd nod and exclaim in pseudo shock, horror or amusement, keeping the child distracted as he took her bobble out of her hair, letting her dirty blonde hair fall down her back and shoulders.

Hermione watched the newly two year old chatter, not really making any sense as she wasn't that good at stringing proper senses together and felt a pang in her heart at the innocence that Heather displayed. She didn't know that her parents were dead, or her aunt or grandma. She just didn't know where they were.

Sirius grabbed a brush and gently brushed the girls hair, and Hermione noticed the tangles that Sirius was carefully un-tangling. Hermione smiled sadly at the sight and jumped slightly when someone coughed behind them, catching their attention.

The man behind her had bloodshot eyes that were a golden brown colour, frown lines around his eyes and mouth and he had a shaved head. He had a sleeve tattoo down one arm and Hermione had the sense that this was a man who had just lost everything, even if she didn't know his story.

"Sirius, my'boy. Who's this?" His voice was hoarse and scratchy and Hermione deduced that he probably spent most of his time crying.

"Micah. This is Hermione," he nodded towards her but didn't take his eyes off the little girl sitting on his knee "She's my girlfriend." He was going to be a wonderful Godfather to Harry, and a father if he ever got the chance.

"Nice to meet you," he said inattentively, his eyes also on Sirius and Heather, but the gleam in his eyes was one of suspicion and distrust. Seeing as how he had been betrayed by his son, Hermione couldn't blame him.

Her eyes scanned the room, landing on photo's sitting atop the mantelpiece, which was mahogany brown, and they showed the family.

Kaelyn looked nothing like Olivia, Hermione noted, looking at the wavy blonde hair and big brown eyes, framed with long eyelashes with a heavy use of eyeliner. Noel had short spiky black hair and a cheeky grin as he lounged back lazily on the recliner chair in a picture, Kaelyn sat on the arm, smiling lovingly.

The picture that caught her attention the most was the one directly in the middle. It was a picture of their wedding right as the groom kissed the bride and Kaelyn's beauty was striking.

Hermione noted absently that the pictures were not moving. Noel and Kaelyn Vine were muggles, not magic like she had first assumed.

"Olivia was the only one who was a witch, although apparently, Rosemary's aunt had some magical tendencies." Micah said, his brown eyes shining in memory.

"It's painful," Sirius said, hugging Heather close after he'd put her bobble back in, "I can bearly stand to think about it," Hermione felt her heart break for her boyfriend and reached her hand out on instinct, to comfort him before he seemed to gain his composure and breathed deeply, as if the air would sooth him.

"I know," Micah said, his eyes skidding to her and he twitched. Hermione was half afraid that he would take it out on her, but she knew that he wouldn't, as she posed no threat to him or Heather.

"I'm sorry for your loss," Hermione said softly, standing and offering her hand to Micah. He looked at it suspiciously before reaching his hand out. Once their hands clasped, he pulled her to her and pushed up her sleeves to reveal pale forearms and he breathed a sigh of relief, dropping her arms. Sirius had stood once Hermione jerked foreword, but stopped when he realised what Micah was doing and let him follow through with the motions.

"Their funeral's on Monday. You should come." He said dejectedly, moving to sit on the recliner chair. The same one that Noel was sat in, in one of the pictures.

"We'll be there," Sirius said, nodding at Micah and sitting back down, patting the empty space beside him for Hermione to sit in.

Monday. She was going to be with Quinton on Monday, trying to prevent the Prewitt's death. She'd have to let Sirius down.

Her conscious weighed heavily inside her and she twitched as she had an internal battle about what to do. She had to save the Prewitt's, but she didn't know what to say to Sirius without him freaking out.

Heather giggled and pointed at the TV, waiting for her granddad, her only living relative, to turn it on.

That was Heather's biggest worry, that's her granddad didn't turn the TV on, while Hermione had to deal with saving everyone that she now held dear.

She really was carrying the weight of the World.

Monday rolled around and Hermione still hadn't figured out what to tell Sirius about why she couldn't go to the funeral…It wasn't like she could go to the funeral and come back to save the Prewitt's…Of course, what a surprise, but the events overlapped. The Prewitt's were attacked and killed at four that afternoon, while the funeral started at three. No way could she go to both.

Sirius looked heart broken that morning, merely picking at his bacon and toast, eating a miniscule amount. It pained Hermione to see him so broken, something that she had never actually seen before. When James and Lily had been killed, Sirius had been so consumed with anger that he didn't have time to properly grieve, while now, he let his sadness overflow in waves, not caring who thought what of him.

Her eyes skimmed his frame, taking in the grey button up shirt that he had on, his hair scraped into a band at the nape of his neck, wisps of hair framing his face. He was going straight after dinner to help set up with Thoma and meeting Morgan. Hermione would be going later in time for her to watch the funeral, comfort Sirius after lunch.

Except she wasn't going to be there.

Sirius stood and leaned foreword, pressing a kiss to Hermione's forehead before offering his hand to Thoma, who wiped her nose before taking it and Sirius looked slightly disgusted.

"See you later, mate," James said, clasping Sirius' shoulder in comfort and Sirius smiled, thanking him with that action and Hermione smiled seeing the glint momentarily return to his eyes.

Sirius and Thoma walked out of the Great Hall, followed by Professor Dumbledore, his dark blue cloak swishing behind him.

Hermione sighed and let her head fall foreword, banging it on the table, the noise startling Kara next to her.

"Aww, poor Hermione. What's wrong?" She asked, stroking Hermione's hair.

"Urgh, I'm just…Not in the mo—" A flash of pain erupted in her chest and down her ribs and she grimaced and put a hand to her heart on instinct, as if it could make the pain go away.

"Are you okay?" Kara asked, her deep brown eyes sparkling with worry and Hermione smiled through another bout of pain. Kara seemed to accept her answer and nibbled on her toast, her eyes scanning the Hufflepuff table, obviously looking for Summer Phillips.

Her vision blurred for a second and she pushed back from the table suddenly, bringing a hand up to her forehead and closing her eyes tight. She breathed in heavily through her nose and out her mouth in gasps. The pain was getting intense and Hermione prayed that her body in 1997 was fine, not being harmed at all.

But when her vision whited out and Remus yelled for her, she knew that the plea was hopeless.

"_What's happening to her?" Worried._

"_Mr. Potter, we can't care for her here." Calm. _

"_Why the bloody hell not?" Angry. _

"_Because, Mr. Weasley, I don't have the facilities and equipment and medication to keep her alive. She's in critical condition!" Exasperated. _

_Somebody was hovering above her. Blonde hair. Brown eyes. Lifting._

_A flash of colour; white. Beeping. Louder. _

"_What shall we tell Sirius?" _

"_She's ill. Don't let him leave the funeral."_

"_What's wrong with her?" _

_Flash of ginger. "I'm here, Hermione," Ron. _

_Where was she?_

_Trapped in a void, unable to escape. _

"_Hermione?" Ron_

"_Hermione?" James_

"_Hermione?" Harry_

"_Hermione?" Ginny_

"_Wake up!"_

Hermione's eyes shot open and she sat up so fast that she almost bashed her forehead with Quinton, who was hovering over her, his brown hair tickling her nose.

"Err…Welcome to the land of the living. You okay?" He asked, his eyes scanning the bed and Hermione looked down, seeing that they were soaked in sweat and she was freezing.

"I think so…" Quinton took her hand and she shakily swung her legs over the side. "I was trapped…" She said quietly, running a shaking hand down her face. "I think I went back…Maybe? Or I went somewhere inbetween."

"That's lovely Hermione, you can tell me all about this later after we save Gideon and Fabian. Okay?" He grabbed her hand and pulled her up to her feet and she almost collapsed, her legs not strong enough. "That is…If you're up for it?"

Hermione scoffed and straightened up, pushing her hair out of her face and reaching for her clothes on the nightstand. "Of course I am. Leave, I need to change," she said, pulling the curtain around her bed and listening to Quinton pace.

After she had on her jeans and red t-shirt left for her, she stepped from behind the curtain.

"Oh, good, you're ready. Let's go, Hermione, we're running out of time!" He ran out of the room and Hermione followed after him, stowing her wand in her back pocket and picking up the pink potion that she knew was used to regain strength, gulping down the lot. She caught up with him easily.

"It was always easy to escape the Hospital Wing." She sighed, running alongside Quinton as they moved across the grounds to the colossal gate at the end of the path, that was still very far away.

"We have ten minutes…No way can we do this in time."

"Why didn't you wake me up earlier?" Hermione demanded, gasping for breath.

"I tried! I've been trying for an hour now. Oh, this is stupid, _accio broom_!"

"You have to be joking!" Hermione cried, remembering the last time she was on a broom and her almost meeting with the floor.

"Nope! Hermione get on!" He jumped on a broom that whizzed past and Hermione prayed to God that this was a good idea, taking Quinton's out stretched hand and letting him pull her up. With her grip tight about his waist and a prayer on her lips, she hoped they'd make it in time. "We're only flying over the gate, you know," Quinton said, a voice of calm and Hermione blanched when she looked at the ground.

"Can we apparate now?" She asked when she saw the gate underneath them, feeling a little queasy. Quinton laughed at her and touched down, apparating a second later and Hermione decided that she much preferred the feeling of being squeezed in a tube to flying too high off the ground.

They found themselves in Diagon Alley and Hermione saw a group of shadows just coming out of Knockturn alley, Antonin Dolohov being one of them, his loud, boisterous voice easily identifiable.

This is the man that had a hand in killing Olivia and her family and Hermione was glad that Sirius wasn't here and was instead at the funeral, as there would be a devastating blood bath on their hands.

She felt her heart sink when she realised that Sirius was at the funeral without her, probably worrying about her and she wondered briefly what she could do to make it up to him.

There was a uproar of laughter and Hermione identified that they were three Death Eaters. Fenrir Greyback was one of them and Hermione felt deep hatred bubble in the pit of her stomach. Hermione didn't know who the other Death Eater was, meaning that he was wither, not active in her time, or he was dead in her time.

She hoped feverantly that it was the latter.

A stream of red light whizzed by their hiding place and Hermione's head snapped to the side, in the direction that it came from, but she could not see as the wall of the alley was blocking her view. If she inched foreword to peer around it, she would be spotted, easily by the Death Eaters.

"Ready Fab?"

"Ready Gid,"

Other flashes of lights whizzed by and beside her, Quinton was calculating how to get into the array and save Fabian and Gideon.

"Apparate behind the Death Eaters, Quinton. Strike from both sides, there's only three. It'll be tough, but with four of us, we can take them, I'm sure." Hermione hissed as a streak of bright green zoomed by and they both held their breath.

"Gideon! No! That is it you self righteous bitches! Take that!" A jet of green light and a thud. Hermione whished that she could actually see what was happening instead of just hearing it, it was like listening to the radio and you didn't have a clue what was going on, as you didn't have the visual aids to help you.

"Quinton! Now!

They apparated behind the Death Eaters with a pop and Hermione quickly sent a stunning spell and she hit her mark. Dolohov went down. Greyback fled, his grey eyes flashing as they caught sight of her and he rushed down Knocturn Alley. Her brown eyes scanned over to Fabian.

He was the exact replica of the body he was hunched over, tears streaming down his face as he cried for the loss of his family member. On the floor in front of her and Quinton, the unnamed Death Eater lay, his eyes staring unseeingly at the sky. Beside him, Dolohov lay, stunned, unconscious.

Suddenly, memories assaulted her senses of a man who reached Bill's height, wore snakeskin boots and suits, who had a glint in his eye and called her Herminniny for a laugh. Who greeted her when she went to the burrow and thanked her for saving his nephew. Who she and Harry called Uncle Fabian and played exploding snap with and Wizard chess, who Ron raved about all the time and complained to, who's house leaned just like the burrow and who Sirius Black had stayed with in her fourth year.

They had just changed history. 

**A/N: **_Okay, I know that was rushed, but it was meant to feel rushed…That's the general feeling I was trying to give off. I hope it worked and you're not to disappointed with that chapter. _

_Oh! Never write whilst there's something on the telly that requires you pay attention, such as Alias, or you'll be lost for the entire series. I've found that it slows down your writing. _

_Thanks for reading._

_Kelly_

_xxx _


	25. Slytherin's everywhere oh my!

**Disclaimer: **_Not mine, not matter how much I wish it was._

**Weight of the World**

**Chapter 25**

The next day, Hermione dropped tiredly into her seat opposite Quinton's desk, dark circles under her eyes and her hair as untamed as ever. Everybody had heard that Gideon Prewitt was dead, killed by Dolohov and that Fabian had a hand in catching him and Fingbar Hyplober, the unnamed Death Eater that Fabian had killed in retaliation of his twin brother's death.

What everyone didn't know, was Hermione and Quinton's involvement in said event, and that was the way they intended to keep it. Quinton had cast _obliviate _on Fabian, so he'd forget that they were there. However, he couldn't forget the pain of losing his twin brother.

"We did it!" Quinton said happily, leaning back in his chair and sighing happily, closing his eyes.

"We did." Hermione answered, giving him a tired smile. Now that she knew History could be changed, she felt immense relief so powerful that she nearly collapsed, her legs going weak. She couldn't believe it...Because of her (and Quinton), Fabian was alive, Dolohov was in Azkaban and she could save her friends.

"I hear you went back."

"Only for a second," Hermione said hastily, smiling at Quinton as she stood again and smoothed her skirt down and grabbed her bag. DADA lessons were back on tomorrow and this was their last meeting of these in a while.

"Wait, Hermione. What happened?"

"Nothing. I just…Instead of hearing Harry and Ron like I normally do, I heard James and Remus…That's it, I didn't wake up, I just got flashes of orange. I don't think it's going to happen again." She frowned, turning and walking to the door.

"Why do you think that?" Quinton asked.

"I don't know. I just…I mean, I don't think I can get home." She answered, placing her hand on the door handle. "I'm going to the library now."

"Hermione, being evasive isn't going to get you anywhere." Quinton warned and Hermione sighed.

"I know. I know that it's just – I don't understand it. This is to confusing for me to wrap my mind around." She admitted, annoyed with herself.

"I know it can be a little overwhelming, but I need to know, Hermione. Everything that's happened, anything strange or something that's just niggling at your brilliant brain. Let me know, okay?" He said sincerely and Hermione flashed him a grateful smile and went into the hallway, looking left and right hastily and taking a right, heading for the library.

She had missed up on so much homework during her two day stay in the Hospital Wing and, when she had got back from Diagon Alley after saving Fabian and snuck back into her bed, a few hours after this, the door had burst open and Sirius was stood there looking dishevelled, his eyes red rimmed. He had stared at her for a few minutes and Hermione opened her mouth to say something, afraid that he was angry at her missing the funeral before he took three long strides to her and gathered her in his arms, whispering brokenly against her temple that she had to stop scaring him like that, especially when he wasn't here to help her.

She smiled vaguely at the memory as she pulled open the heavy doors to the library and nodded at the librarian, Madame Pince before going to her table but saw that it was already occupied.

Snape.

She stood uncertainly near the table, watching as he turned a page of his book, blinking his coal, black eyes slowly as they scanned the pages, taking in the words.

"Well," he said, not looking up from his book, "are you going to sit down?" Hermione blinked in surprise before slowly reaching out a hand to take the back of the chair and pulled it out, keeping her eye on Snape in case this was a trick or something as equally as embarrassing and annoying. But he didn't even look up, instead, he simply turned the page of his book, carrying on with his reading.

They sat in companionable silence for awhile, as if they had been doing this for years, and Hermione felt both relief and disturbed by it – relief that he wasn't the same evil, hook nosed teacher he was about to become and disturbed because this was Snape, her teacher, who despised her and muggle-born's like her, who used every opportunity he could to knock her self-esteem down and make her feel worthless, like he was so fond of doing.

"Kinglsey," he muttered after a while, and Hermione looked up from her potions book, seeing his oil-black eyes staring at her parchment, taking in her neat, joined-up writing, as small as possible so that is was still legible, but so that she could fill more of the page with her vast knowledge of healing draughts.

"What?" She asked, slightly enjoying the freedom of allowing to be as brash with him as she wished, knowing that he wouldn't give her detention and publicly humiliate her, but also slightly afraid of what he wanted, hoping it wasn't about her secret, something that she knew she had to tell Sirius soon, especially as she was sure her feelings for him were progressing.

"You know, if you crush the Newt's eyes instead of cutting them, you'll get more juice and your Healing draught will be much more effective," he said lazily, his eyes moving up to her meet hers and she was sure that she saw a spark of…humour?

No, it couldn't be – could it?

"But the book specifically says 'to cut'" she fired back. He shrugged and his gaze swung back to his book, which Hermione had identified earlier as Charles Dickens 'Great Expectations.'

Now that one of them had spoke, the air felt heavy and tense and Hermione was sure that she was the only one who could feel it. Snape calmly turned the pages of his book, never looking up at her, not giving any indication that he could feel the elephant in the room, as muggle's say.

Needing to get away, needing to breathe, she pushed her chair back and turned quickly, heading down the aisle towards potions books, using this as her excuse, (of

course, she didn't need to – Hermione knew almost everything there was to know about Healing Draughts, but they were, of course, some potions that was in this time that hadn't survived to her time, such as the '_Spiritus Potion'_).

She looked out of the slightly dusty window at the end of the aisle, watching students lounge about and laugh and joke as she tried to think up some answers to questions that Snape was bound to ask, without giving anything away. It was rather unfortunate that he had discovered her secret so soon, or rather, that he's discovered it at all, now that he had leverage over her, she was sure that he would use it at every available opportunity and she despised it – as would anyone, she imagined.

Suddenly, a hand shot out and spun her around, her back hitting the bookshelf and hands on either side of her head, trapping her. She let out a squeak of surprise at the sudden movement and she found herself looking into a pair of grey eyes.

_Not Sirius…_

"Hello, Mudblood."

Great.

Severus sighed when Hermione got up and wandered off between the shelves and he let his coal black eyes fall onto her work. It was amazing really, what she knew off the top of her head and he knew that, if he were ever to become a Potions Teacher, which, he had an offer to do, thanks to Professor Dumbledore, he would adore a student like her – except, you know, she was from the future and a muggle born to boot.

He closed his eyes when an image of Lily surfaced in his mind, her green eyes bright and happy, her red hair long and full of life, bouncing on her shoulders as she threw her head back and laughed, how, when they were children, she would happily link arms with him, telling him a story animatedly about her family.

How, when she was angry, her eyes narrowed into slits, her nostrils flared and her hair seemed to crack with electricity. How, when she was upset, her eyes would stare solemnly and well up slowly, but she refused to let the tears fall, to proud, he would say.

When she felt betrayed, people would mistake her for being angry, but there was a slight difference. She narrowed her eyes to make sure the tears wouldn't fall.

He knew this because he had seen the all – he had caused them all at one point.

He wasn't evil, not like the Gryffindor's thought, he wasn't malicious, like the others thought and he wasn't a loner, like the rest of the Slytherin's thought – he was just Severus, something that Lily had understood and even cheered him for it.

He had fallen in love with her a long time, the ice that flowed through his ice before he met her melted when she laughed, and warmth pumped into his heart. He missed that feeling, and instead, felt like a knife was being twisted in his gut when he saw her with that "arrogant toe-rag" James Potter, their hands intertwined, looking into each others – something he would never get to feel with her. Because he had hurt her, called her the name that she hated above all else, betrayed her trust that he had gained instantly when they first met in a muggle neighbourhood near where his mother lived.

He hated James Potter – he truly did, felt a stab of anger start in his belly and wind up till he was consumed with it, his stupid, pathetic face replacing Lily and he found himself fantasizing about knocking him unconscious and taking Lily away, making her his. But he knew that she wouldn't appreciate it, would probably despise him for it and he couldn't bare the thought of it.

His lips curled up into a sneer when he realised that she hated him anyway and he suddenly felt trapped in the library and slammed the book shut, shoving it into his bag and pushing from the desk, the chair legs scraping across the floor making fellow students cringe and Madam Pince to glare in his direction. He didn't spare them a look and walked briskly from the library, his thoughts on the red-headed girl who loved who did not return his affections.

"You see, Mudblood, I don't like the way you and my incompetent big brother spoke to me – you shouldn't talk in such a way to someone who is far superior to you in every possible way," Regulus said, casually leaning his forearm on the bookcase beside her head Kingsley scoffed at him, and he felt his blood boil.

Who did this Mudblood think she was? How dare she ignore him in such a way! He slammed his fist against the bookcase, and she involuntarily flinched.

"Listen to me, I hope you know that you'll get what's coming to you – you all will. You have been a bane of my existence for to long, and before you open your mouth to say "You don't even know me," you can shut your trap right there. I do know you – I know everything about you disgusting vile creatures. I'm sick of you walking around the place – just you wait – all of you will get it." He punched the bookcase and left Kingsley stood there, obviously shaken. He knew, the second he started ranting, that it was a bad idea to tell her, but he was so frustrated with the way she spoke to him. No matter, it wouldn't effect the outcome, what had to be done – what would be done. But, he had to wait till after Christmas and by then, hopefully, the little cow would have forgotten his threat.

Hermione breathed in harshly when he punched the bookcase and she glimpsed his forearm as the fabric of his white sleeved T-shirt moved with the force of the blow, allowing her to see what should have been an unblemished forearm.

Instead, she saw a twisted, sick, black tattoo burned into the pale skin and she blanched as she listened to his threat – He could actually be serious. She needed to get to Professor Dumbledore, needed to warn him that one of his students was a Death Eater. It seemed ridiculous, Regulus was sixteen years old and he already had the Dark marked seared onto his skin, marking it for life. She knew that he would back out, that he didn't want to do it anymore soon and he would be killed for his actions. She would tell Dumbledore to.

Regulus was just misguided and she felt a swell of pity for the Slytherin, seeing the traits of Sirius in him. There was no-one around, he could have easily hurt her, but the gentleman in him, probably something Sirius had taught him, had stopped him from hurting her, and she appreciated that.

She gathered her things and noticed vaguely that Severus wasn't in his seat anymore. But was sat in the desk in front of his chair was a chocolate frog. She frowned and picked it up hesitantly, wondering if he had left it, but couldn't get rid of the nagging feeling at the back of her mind – someone was leaving these for her.

_A/N: If I apologize, will you promise not to kill me? I really am sorry, I actually forgot about this fic – not horrifically, like I stumbled upon it and gasped in the realisation I've had a story on here for ages, no, it was more like. "I'll write some more Weight of the World tonight…" when it got to the night, I was probably sleeping or watching movies or out with my friends, or even revising. I'm sorry! But I have this chapter done! Yay! Annnnnnd, I have the next one done as well! Double chapters! _

_I owe you guys that much. _

_I wanted to give Severus and Regulus a voice – sorry there's no Sirius in this chapter :/ _

_I hope you like this chappie!_

_Kelly_

_xxx _


	26. Secrets revealed

**Disclaimer: **_*Sigh* not mine :'(_

**Weight of the World**

**Chapter 26**

"So, Miss Kingsley, you're telling me that one of our students has joined the dark arts?" Professor Dumbledore said, leaning back in his chair, sucking on a lemon drop. When she had first entered his office, he had happily offered her one, but she was too confused and anxious to accept one. She sat down in the armchair offered (which was the same chair with the floral upholstery as before) and smiled vaguely at him before launching into her tale.

"I know, it sounds so far-fetched, but I'm telling you, Regulus Black is a Death Eater – I saw the Dark Mark."

Dumbledore's eyes suddenly grew serious and he leaned foreword, his sudden demeanour changing, making her feel slightly nervous.

"Are you absolutely certain of this?" He asked urgently. At her nod of confirmation, Dumbledore stood and began to pace, thoughts and idea swirling through his brilliant mind.

"What exactly did he say to you, Miss Kingsley?" He asked, still pacing before he began mumbling to himself.

"Er…That we were all going to get what was coming to us," she answered, suddenly feeling like a child who had been scolded.

"Well, this isn't good – this isn't good at all. Phineas!" He changed his direction of speech and turned his attention to the portrait of the clever looking wizard with a pointed beard who Hermione knew was a relative of Sirius. He looked offended and was glaring at Hermione very much like Regulus had done earlier.

"Yes, headmaster?" He asked, not tearing his gaze away from Hermione, who shrunk back slightly in her chair.

"Go to your portrait in Grimmauld place – I need you to talk to Orion and Walburga. We also need a security check on Regulus so, Eduardo, I need you to talk to Kingsley Shacklebot, a new auror at the Ministry and let him know of the situation." He fired orders at them so fast that Hermione barely had time to keep up with what was being said.

"You know, Professor, I think he's just misguided," she felt the need to voice her opinion and Dumbledore looked at her, his blue eyes twinkling behind his half-moon spectacles.

"What makes you say that? He threatened you – I fail to see how that is misguided," he calmly took a seat behind the desk again, patiently waiting for the portraits return, glancing at her absent-mindedly.

"Well, I suspect he's like Mal-" she managed to stop herself before she uttered his full name and Dumbledore raised his eyebrows, but said nothing more of the subject. "Er, sir? Can I go?" She asked, feeling uncomfortable sitting there with the portraits staring at her and Dumbledore looking at her silently over his glasses.

"Yes, miss Kingsley, but if a Dark Mark is found, I need to know that you'll be able to properly make a statement. As he is a minor, he will most likely be let off, but that sometimes isn't the case. Now, off to dinner, I hear its mint humbugs for dessert today," he twiddled his thumbs and turned his gaze to the window and Hermione knew instantly that she had been dismissed. She stood slowly, thinking of the repercussions that would fall on people because of her talking to Dumbledore. She did the right thing.

Hadn't she?

Sirius looked glumly at the gloopy mass before him, wondering where Hermione (and the real food) was. He was pleased to look up to the Ravenclaw table and see Morgan who, while looking a little worse for wear, which was totally understandable, had found the strength to face his peers again, and Sirius respected that.

Someone collapsed into the seat next to him and Sirius instinctively knew that it was Hermione and he reached out his hand to her knee, giving it a squeeze before leaning over and kissing her gently on the temple. He desperately needed to talk to her, needed answers, but decided it could wait. Well, until they were alone tonight, anyways, they didn't need people listening in.

Hermione smiled at him, but Sirius could see it was forced – it lacked it's usual warmth and happiness. At first he was worried, the small cloud of panic blossoming in his stomach ever since Olivia took hold, but he managed to beat it back down, realising that she was probably just tired – she had only left the Hospital Wing today.

Merlin, when Remus told him that Hermione was in the Hospital Wing, he almost went back to Hogwarts immediately, the only thing that stopped him (besides James' tight hold on him but he could have broken that – seriously) was Heather's big green eyes staring at him, wet with tears, reaching her arms out begging for a hug. He loved her, he really did and he scooped her up in his arms, hoping that Hermione was alright. After the official funeral, in which he had unashamedly let his tears fall, he had burst into the Hospital Wing and seeing her awake, a few shades paler then normal, but unharmed, he had been almost giddy with relief, holding her as close as he could, begging her – yes, Sirius Black begged her to stop doing this to him.

Although, it wasn't really her fault.

"Sirius!" Sirius looked up, shocked and realised that he had been so far lost in his world that he hadn't eaten any of his "gloop" and dessert was going to appear any second.

"Huh?" He asked, his grey eyes landing on James, who raised his eyebrows and winked. Sirius scoffed and shook his head, pleased that even though he wasn't exactly up to his antics at the minute that he could rely on James to make it up for him.

"Never mind, you mongrel." Sirius couldn't help but laugh and beside him he felt Hermione relax slightly. James really shouldn't be dropping hints about what he is, in all fairness, but Hermione probably wouldn't get it.

Due to Olivia's death, Sirius hadn't been there at the last Full Moon and he felt guilt settle like a stone in his heart, especially when he saw the cuts across James' back later and realised that the night had been a particularly rough one. He hated when he wasn't there to support his friends and he felt saddened when something gets in the way of that time, the time that Remus needed them the most.

Remus was such a good person and he didn't deserve the Hell that he was living in – he would never be able to get a job, because of what he was, despite his brains and his brilliance, no matter how good of a Wizard he was or how hard he tried, he would never be accepted in Wizarding society, and Sirius hated that.

"Sirius, if you don't tell me what's on your mind, mate, I'm afraid I'm going to have to smother you with a pillow," Peter said from across the table and Sirius didn't answer him, instead his thoughts going to the round boy who he and James had befriended out of pity. It's a horrible thing to admit, Sirius knows that, but it's the truth and Peter knows it. He remembers the first time he saw him, he was so timid, his eyes jumping about the place, so scared that he wouldn't be accepted into this world and Sirius couldn't help it. He befriended him.

And he doesn't regret that decision, never has and never will do. Peter was a good friend and he trusts him with his own life – he trusts him with James' life. He just wished that Hermione could see the good in him as well. He can understand why Hermione doesn't like him, at first glance he does seem slightly unstable, but she just needed to see the man there, the one who became an illegal animagus for his friends, the one who raced to Gryffindor Common Room and told Sirius that Hermione was hurt – he had never seen Peter run as fast as he had then.

"Sirius, are you okay?" Hermione asked him, leaning closer and her hair, her beautiful, uncontrollable hair fell around her face like a curtain, shielding her from the rest of the world. He reached up and wrapped a curl around his finger, punching it behind her ear and leaning foreword, kissing her earlobe.

"I'm fine, love. Don't worry," he purred in her ear and he felt satisfied at the shiver of delight that coursed through her body and he grinned wolfishly.

Later, after dinner, the Gryffindor's were sat in the Common Room, Hermione balanced on Sirius' lap, laughing at James who was pretending to be a knight protecting "Lady Lily" and Remus was the "big bad wolf," (fortunately, only the Marauders and Lily understood it) and Peter was the little servant boy who got to be the hero at the end and kill the big bad wolf. Sirius didn't know what had happened in between – he had been to busy watching Hermione.

She was so…Beautiful. So achingly beautiful to him and so perfect, and he needed to know now, he needed to know what was hurting and why it was hurting her so he could stop it. He could stop it and protect her and keep her from harm.

He didn't understand where the need to keep her safe came from and, at the moment, he didn't particularly care. By the time that the others had gone up to bed (Rayne and Kara shrieking about a lost sole of a shoe or something) Sirius was almost hurting with the need to touch her. Normally, he kept the PDA to a minimum, knowing that his friends didn't really care much for it and he respected that. The second that the girls dorm room closed and Hermione turned to him, a questioning look in her beautiful brown eyes, he had her underneath him, his tongue stroking hers and her legs wrapped around his waist returning his kiss.

Every kiss never failed to erupt butterflies in his stomach (moths, James would correct. They were 'manlier'.) and fire to coarse through his veins. Each kiss was different, from the little pecks to the full blown snogs, and they kept their relationship alive, as they all had exactly the same effect on him – no matter what type it was.

"Lets get out of here," Hermione gasped, resting her forehead against his and Sirius stared into her eyes, his black hair mixing with her brunette.

"What and leave the castle after hours?" He asked, trailing his hand up her side, "that's against the rules," he chided softly, not really meaning it at all, up for anything that she was and Hermione giggled and struggled to move away, but her movements awakened something in Sirius and his hands held firmer to her hips, stilling her.

He groaned and dropped his head, pressing light kisses across her face, "Sweetheart, you might not want to move like that again – I can't seem to control myself," catching on to his meaning, Hermione flushed a deep red that Sirius found captivating and he lightly kissed her forehead, leaving his lips there until he'd 'calmed down' enough and he slowly sat up, bringing her with him until she straddled his thighs.

"Where do you suggest we go?" He asked nuzzling her neck and she threaded her hands in his black hair, sighing in happiness.

"Lake," she said simply and Sirius grinned against her creamy skin before standing up and she let out a squeak of surprise, automatically wrapping her legs around his waist to keep her stabilised, although no way would Sirius let her fall.

"Let's go then," he didn't miss a beat and, without taking the map and invisibility cloak, he strode out of the common room, dropping kisses to the top of her head whenever he could. They successfully made it outside and it was just starting to get dark outside. Sirius put her down and held her hand, their hands cupped and he pulled her gently foreword, enjoying the serenity of the moment.

"It's beautiful," she whispered, watching as the sunset disappeared behind the tree's, the multiple hue's of colour darkening until it was a deep blue. By then they'd reached the lake and Sirius swung their hands, like he was a child and Hermione laughed, allowing him to carry on.

Allowing him…Like she owned him or something. Which she didn't, not at all, nobody owns Sirius Black, no sir. Especially not her, nope, not at all…No way…Nada…

Oh, who was he kidding? She owned a part of him – what part he wasn't so sure.

They lay quietly in the grass by the lake and stared at the stars that were starting to appear, Hermione's head on his chest and he was stroking her hair, gently untangling the wild locks. For once, Sirius was happy with the silence and he didn't think about anything, letting the moment do the talking, so to speak.

"I had a run-in with Regulus earlier," it could have been minutes after they lay down or hours after when she said it – Sirius had lost track of time.

"Are you okay? Hermione, did he do anything?" He asked, tightening his hold slightly.

"No, not really. Just the usual 'you'll get what's coming to you,' garbage they all sprout," she said quietly and her arms slid around his waist, holding _him_ tighter.

"Don't pay any attention to him, love," Sirius said, his lips pressed against her hair. She sighed sleepily and shivered in his grasp from the cold and he dug in his pocket fro his wand, trying not to move her to much as she was lulled into a state of security. He conjured a blanket for them and let it fall over them, tucking them in and keeping them warm.

He sensed somehow, he wasn't sure, but he knew that now was the time to ask her, now was the time for his questions to be answered.

"Hermione, love? Will you please tell me?" He asked, loosening his hold around her and she slowly sat up, her hair falling over one shoulder, tumbling down. Her hand stayed on his chest and traced patterns.

"Sirius – I know that you want to know, but it's my secret – I'm sure you have a secret as well, you know – " to this day, Sirius still has no idea why he did it, just seeing her looking so desperate for an escape, a secret for a secret, he pushed her back slightly before she could finish, stood up, looked her right in the eyes and transformed into a big, shaggy dog.

Hermione gasped and stared at him, her big brown eyes showing shock and confusion – then again, to him now they were black and white. He hesitantly moved forewords on his big paws and pressed his nose to the side of her face. She gasped again and let out a laugh of shock and amusement, reaching out a hand to stroke him. He quickly changed back into himself and rested his head on her lap, letting her continue stroking his hair, petting it as if he were still a dog. He didn't mind he found it strangely comforting.

"Why can you do that?" The tint of her voice suggested to him that she _knew. _He didn't see how that was possible, but it seemed like she just did.

"I'm helping a friend – someone's furry problem," he answered, his fingers tightening on her thigh and knee. "I can't tell you that though, that's not my secret to tell."

"Sirius, I can't," she sounded upset and Sirius slowly sat up, reaching a hand foreword and pushing her hair behind her ear again, cupping her jaw and lifting her head up. Her eyes sparkled in the starlight and her skin seemed to glow in the moons light.

"Please," he said imploringly. If, he decided, she didn't answer now, he would let it go.

For now.

She took a deep breath and Sirius waited, feeling as if he'd just been coiled tightly, like those wind-up toys that muggle children had and that he was about to explode if she didn't answer soon.

"My name is Hermione Granger," she said and Sirius raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah, I know –"

"No, I haven't finished. My name's Hermione Granger and I was born on 19th September 1979," she said shakily and Sirius froze, the fingers moving across her cheek softly stilled in its movements and his eyes widened involuntarily in shock. She smiled sadly at him and averted her gaze, as if embarrassed. "I'm from the future."

_A/N: And Sirius knows! I hope you liked that chapter! Again, I'm so sorry for the long wait. Please don't kill me? _

_Oh, Regulus' story will be dealt with in the next chapter as well as Sirius' reaction to Hermione's news :/_

_Kelly_

_xxx_


	27. Reactions

**Disclaimer: **_These characters are so fun to play around with, but my whacky imagination didn't come up with them – just the plot._

**Weight of the World**

**Chapter 27**

Sirius stayed frozen like a statute in front of her, his gaze holding hers although Hermione felt as though he was actually looking through her instead. Her mind was frantically processing what she had just done and regretted it deeply. Would telling Sirius ruin everything for them? Would he accept her now? Now that he knew he was actually 20 years older then her?

She felt worried when he just sat there, barely blinking and her breathing picked up, desperately hoping that he would answer her soon – she could exactly take the silence.

"Sirius," she whispered quietly, her hand gently taking his that was cupping her cheek and she swore that her heart stopped.

He hung his head and his hair hid his face from view, hiding his reaction, leaving Hermione in the dark as to how he felt.

"So, that's it?" he said, his voice harsh, biting into the cool night air, "that's your secret?"

"Sirius, what-" she didn't get a chance to finish before Sirius' head flipped up, his grey eyes burning with anger, hurt and…Betrayal.

"Geez, Hermione, for somebody so smart you think you'd come up with a better excuse," he spat and roughly ripped his hand from her grasp. "I just showed you something, and I expected something in return, I didn't expect you to throw it in my face – I thought I meant more to you then that!" He yelled and stood, throwing the blanket to the ground.

"Sirius, no, please, I'm telling you the truth –" Hermione said desperately, struggling to stand as well. Sirius rolled his shoulders and Hermione saw it, the moment that the shutters came down, keeping his emotions in.

And keeping her out.

"The truth," he scoffed and shook his head, stepping away from her, "Hermione, I honestly thought I was at least worth the truth,"

"No, please believe me!" Fear and panic coiled tightly in her stomach and she began to sweat. It felt like someone had just wrapped a rubber band around her chest and it was tightening with every move that Sirius made suggesting that he hated her. The mere thought made her breath harsher and her vision tunnelled out for a moment. She couldn't loose Sirius, not now, Please God, please not now…

"Believe you? Hermione, I can't believe you." He said it so calmly, so serenely that Hermione was slightly offended by the relaxed tone to his voice. She was hysterical right now – how could he be so unruffled?

What she didn't know, of course, was that Sirius' heart had just about shattered – he thought it'd hurt when him and Olivia broke up, but this was much, much worse. She betrayed his trust, laughed in his face, tore through his heart – it was almost too much to bear.

Neither of them said anything for awhile, standing still and silent as the wind paid them no heed and gently blew across the grounds, rippling the water of the Lake marring the beautiful reflection of the stars. Hermione's hair moved softly and Sirius caught the highlights of bronze and toffee in her dark brunette hair, the branches over at the Forbidden Forest moved in time with the wind, the leaves rustling slightly, causing the perfect backdrop for any romantic evening.

Hermione shivered and he had to stop himself from reaching out to her, like his instincts were yelling at him to do. He knew that he had to walk away from her, but he couldn't. Her brown eyes were open and pleading and he felt his heart pace faster.

Why did she have to do this?

"I can prove it to you," she said softly, her voice barely reaching his ears.

"Prove it? How?" He asked, a frown marring his face, "tell me something that happens in the future? How am I supposed to know that you're telling me the truth? You don't seem to be doing that lately," he sneered and he saw a flash of anger in her eyes.

"I'm telling the truth!" She snapped, stamping her foot, "why won't you believe me?"

"Because, sweetheart," he sneered again and Hermione closed her eyes in hurt, "it isn't possible to travel so far backwards in time – I mean, it's gotta be what? 1997? That's twenty years that you've gone back in time – It's not possible." He said sadly, finding no fault with his own logic. He wanted desperately to believe her, to be with her but he couldn't get past this – she may as well have "Lies" written across her forehead.

"What about – I know something about you from before, when you were a kid that you haven't told me yet," she said and Sirius shook his head.

"The other Marauders would have told you, I can't believe it."

"A pensive? Sirius please – Don't do this to me," Hermione's conviction made him think twice. Could she be telling the truth? He needed to know, he needed to ask the question that the answer wouldn't have been given away by the Marauders.

And he really didn't want to.

"Hermione, earlier I mentioned my friends 'furry little problem.' What was I referring to?"

A part of him so desperately wanted her to get this answer right that time seemed to stand still around them, the wind suddenly seemed to stop blowing and everything became silent.

"It's Remus," she answered a sad smile on her face, "he's a werewolf. He was bitten by Greyback before he even went to Hogwarts. You, Peter and James became illegal animagus' in your fifth year to be with him, keep him company in the Shrieking Shack. Oh, and after you'd finished your DADA O.W.L, you and Remus were talking about the werewolf question, James was playing with the Snitch he stole from the Quidditch cabinet and Peter didn't understand the humour. Snape called Lily a Mudblood and that broke their friendship - Sirius, how else would I know that?" He stared at her stunned for a minute until he felt like he could breathe again - Sirius' relief was palpable. So happy was he that she had gotten it right, that she wasn't a liar that he couldn't help the smile that spread across his face as he took two quick steps foreword and wrapped his arms around her tightly, so so happy when she grasped him back.

"God, Sirius…You have no idea how hard that was to do. I thought you were gonna leave me," she finished so sadly that Sirius just held her tightly.

It hurt him, really, to think that that was how she felt – despite the fact that's what his instincts were telling him to do – walk away, leave it alone, leave _her _alone, he knew that he'd just go back to her. Whether as a friend or a boyfriend or whatever, he would be there for her.

"So, what are you gonna do?" He asked, dreading the answer.

"About what?" She asked, her head buried at the crook of his neck.

"The future. Are you –" he stopped and gulped, not liking where this train of thought was going, but knowing that he needed an answer. "Are you going back?"

They spent the next few hours talking about her predicament and things started to slot together in Sirius' mind. She wouldn't tell him everything, and he didn't particularly want her to, but the boy who looked exactly like James with Hermione's boggart – well that was James' son. The mere thought of it was almost too much to handle (James had a son! He was a father!) and he cackled like a Halloween witch, Hermione smiling with him.

Hermione of course, kept his fate and his friends fate's away from him, telling him that was too much to soon, but that they were fine. She couldn't tell him that Peter betrayed James and Lily, she couldn't do.

She had had an epiphany at dinner, surprisingly enough. It had just came to her as she watched the Gryffindor's of this time laugh and dine, telling jokes and being idiots that, well, Peter wasn't evil. Not yet. Maybe something happened to him, between now and his betrayal that caused the hatred there, the deep anger that he must feel to betray his…Well, essentially his family. Hermione didn't know much about Peter's real family, not enough to make a judgement but he never spoke about them and he wasn't going home for the Christmas holidays like everyone else, meaning that him, Hermione and Megara would be the only Gryffindor's to stay and she was determined to get to the bottom of the roots of his problems, and to see if she could remember Megara from her exploration of the Black's library.

When Sirius believed her, she felt like the weight of the world had been lifted from her shoulders, and he didn't seem bothered by the now obvious age difference between them, maybe because she had told him that she wasn't leaving this time that she was here to stay. He seemed to get comfort from that and loosened his grip considerably and they had ended up eventually falling asleep under the stars just as the first rays of sunlight peeked over the tops of the tree's, Hermione cuddled thankfully into Sirius' side, his arms wrapped securely around her shoulders and waist, anchoring her to him.

* * *

Regulus literally breathed fire as he prowled the corridors of Hogwarts, his glare promising pain to anyone who dare tread into his path. A first year was shaking so hard as he stomped by he almost felt sympathetic when she uttered a small "eep" and ran off, book clutched tightly to her chest. Almost.

Instead, he snarled at disapproving glances and students scattered for him, parting like the Red Sea. Who on Earth told Dumby about his Dark Mark? The only people who knew where his goons, and they didn't dare tell anyone, they were always nervous around Regulus, doing everything that he ordered, following him through thick and think. It was really annoying that they weren't independent, but nice that his lackey's just followed his orders. God, if his father hadn't warned him just before – popping into the Slytherin's fire at 1am – It was a wonder that Regulus was even up at that time, finishing a Transfiguration essay for McGonagall about the transformation of animals to objects, when his father told him, that somebody had sold him out and he needed to cover the Dark Mark up, immediately. Thankfully, he had been given a potion from his cousin, Bellatrix, which made your skin unblemished for three hours. It hurt, but it was effective.

Kingsley Shacklebot, a new auror at the Ministry, who was big, black, bald and had a regal feel about him had examined his arm, muttering an incantation revealing the Dark Mark if it had been hidden by a spell. Aurors really weren't that bright, they never think to check for potions. He had been escorted out of Potions, past some snickering Hufflepuffs who slinked back into their seats and shut up as he passed. He was lead up flights of stairs before occupying a unused classroom, where he was unceremoniously pushed against the wall, a forearm across his throat, immobilising him as Shacklebot examined him and he had never, in his whole life, been treated in such a way.

Oh, whoever did this would pay, and they would pay horribly. The plan would carry on as normal probably, meaning that when everyone came back from Christmas Holidays, everyone would be in trouble.

And he couldn't wait.

_A/N: And the plot thickens! Next chapter focuses on Christmas hols and some Hermione and Peter 'bonding' as much as she can physically do anyways, she still hates him. _

_Big love to all those who review, especially my regular reviewers (you know I'm talking to you!) I appreciate each and every single review and love you all so much for them! They keep me writing and make me feel proud. _

_Thanks for taking the time to read my story, even if you don't review :D_

_Kelly_

_xxx_


	28. Christmas Holidays and Birthday letters

**Disclaimer: **_Oh, yeah, I created Harry Potter, that's why I'm on Fanfic posting stories that aren't cannon – I don't own :(_

**Weight of the World**

**Chapter 28**

20th December 1977

The time had come for the students of Hogwarts to go to home for the Christmas holidays and Hermione was not looking foreword to the goodbyes, especially with Sirius. Ever since she had told him the truth, they had been closer then ever, it was as if he were afraid that she'd just evaporate of fade away, which, of course, she knew wasn't going to happen.

The seventh year Gryffindor's were all stood on the platform in Hogsmeade, waiting to get on the train, their trunks and carry-on's and bags surrounding them as Peter and Remus hefted them slowly one by one onto the train, Sirius and James pretending to be conductors and ordering them on how to do it properly was very funny and Hermione felt a pang in her heart knowing that she wouldn't see him for at least two weeks. She glanced out of the corner of her eye and saw Regulus and she felt anger at her stomach at how he had been Dark Mark free when she had so cleanly seen it. She'd had a long lecture from Professor McGonagall about accusing other students.

"Cheer up, Herms, I'm still here!" Megara said happily, racking backwards on her heels.

"Me too!" Peter called from the train and Hermione sent a weak, forced smile his way, but he didn't notice as he was still loading the trunks onto the train.

"That, my fine legged friend is most defiantly NOT how to lift a trunk!" Sirius said in a false, cockney accent, chewing on a toothpick that Hermione wasn't sure where he got it from. He was leaning against the train, his arms crossed across his chest, one foot pressed flat against the scarlet metal, his black shaggy hair falling into his eyes, his grey, long sleeved T-shirt looked delicious on him and Hermione felt a different pang, this one sending a warm chill through her veins.

"Oh, if I were straight and he were single, I'd be all over him like maggots on a dead guy." Kara said, her brown eyes staring intently at Sirius, who was laughing with James about some joke or other.

"Nice. That's real nice, Kara," Thoma said stroking the top of Cherry's head, whom she was holding as if she were a baby.

"Oh, I do so not want to go back home." Rayne said, quickly pulling her hair into a ponytail at the nape of her neck, "all it's going to be is planning, planning, planning – What joy!"

"At least you don't have to go home to a sister who wants to play 'Ding Dong the Witch is dead' at your funeral." The others laughed, but Hermione frowned, wondering for the first time how Petunia really felt when her sister died. She quickly backtracked her thoughts, now that time could be changed, she was going to save Lily and James, she just had to.

It was time for the goodbye's and everybody got hugged by everybody, laughs and jokes spread around, James grabbing Lily and putting her in a headlock and scruffing her hair. Lily responded by kicking him in the back of the leg, making sure he crumpled to the floor. Grumbling, he picked himself up and limped to the train, Lily following him, laughing her head off as the rest proceeded to get on the train as well, chatting amongst themselves.

Sirius wound his arms tightly around her waist from behind, his chuckles radiating through his chest and Hermione smiled, leaning back against him as he places a kiss on her head.

"I'm gonna miss you, Bookworm," he murmured and Hermione smile widened as she spun in his grasp, winding his arms around his neck.

"Don't worry about me – enjoy your holidays," she said and buried her hand in her pocket, taking out a golden wrapped parcel. "Happy Christmas," she placed a sweet kiss on his mouth and moved away, pushing him toward the train. He smiled and waved before turning and following his friends, throwing an extra wink over his shoulder for good measure. He jumped on the train just as it set off and slammed the door shut.

"Well, I guess its just you, me and Peter," Megara said, interlacing her fingers, sliding her hands behind her head.

"Yeah, that's just aces," Peter grinned and Hermione watched the scarlet train as it disappeared around the corner.

God, she was going to miss him.

* * *

"Okay, Hermione, who dies next?" Quinton asked, sitting beside her at the Black Lake. Hermione had said goodbye to Megara and Peter as soon as they entered Hogwarts and went to the lake to think, trying to organize her thoughts about Peter and how best to befriend him – if she suddenly started acting nice to him, he would become suspicious. Quinton had found her by chance, on a stroll through the grounds, planning his and Hayley's wedding anniversary. Their topic of discussion had ranged from Peter to wedding anniversaries to death.

Hermione loved having somebody to talk to about all of this, but she felt that every single conversation that he and her had revolved around her problem and it really annoyed her. Her and Quinton could be pretty good friends, Hermione thought, as they shared the same IQ and thirst for knowledge.

"I don't know," Quinton raised her eyebrows and Hermione shook her head. "Seriously, I don't. Rayne doesn't die until her daughter 8 or 9, I have no idea about Kara, Megara or Thoma, Morgan has another few years and so do James and Lily. I can tackle these deaths before they happen in years, but now – I don't have anybody to save in that respect." She answered, throwing little pebbles into the Lake, watching the ripples as they spread from the vocal point where her pebble landed with a 'plunk'.

"So, you're gonna save Peter?" He asked, skimming his own pebbles, counting each time the tiny stone bounced on the surface.

"I'm certainly going to try." She stood and brushed her pale blue flare jeans trying to get any dust or muck off, "In fact, I think I'm going to start now."

"Nice try, Hermione." Quinton said and Hermione froze in her tracks. "I can't believe you told Sirius."

"You sound like a horrible old woman," Hermione said uneasily, not turning around to face him.

"Hermione, I know you like the boy, but how can you be certain that he'll keep your secret? You've only known his for four months."

"No, Quinton, I've known Sirius for years now. I've seen the loyalty that he has for the people he cares about first-hand, how he'll do something illegal, risk himself, to make a friend feel better once a month, how he'll go to the ends of the world and back to help a little girl who's parents and family were killed in a Death Eater attack, don't you see? Sirius was the perfect person to tell and I did it at the perfect time to." Hermione finished her little speech and Quinton frowned, trying to come up with anything to back up her logic. When he was unable to, he threw his hands up in exasperation and righted the tie that sat crooked in the collar of his black button down shirt.

"You know Hermione, tell whoever you want. I don't care. But if a rumour spreads through the school that you're from the future, don't come running to me."

"Quinton, I," Hermione faltered, reaching out to grab his arm as he brushed past her.

"You are being careless, Miss Kingsley." He moved past her and walked away, leaving Hermione stood at the shoreline, a handful of pebbles and tears in her eyes.

This was so not her day.

* * *

Sirius fingered the package in his hands, turning it over and over, shaking it by his ear, trying to figure out what it was. It was small, no bigger then a matchbox and nothing inside it moved, not that he could hear anyways.

"Sirius, mate, will you stop looking at the bloody package and come play exploding snap with us!" James yelled, throwing a burnt card at Sirius and it bounced off his head.

"Oh, fair knight, how doth the wind blow with a trembling caress of its branches?" He said dramatically, one hand clenched over his heart and the other held aloft, as if pointing, a look on his face that suggested that he was gazing far off into the distance at something particularly interesting and Remus had to fight to not look out the window with him.

"Err…Is that a yes?" James asked, folding the cards together.

"Yeah, mate," Sirius got up and grabbed his trunk from the floor (which he had been using to prop his feet up) and dragged it to the little table that Remus and James were seated up before dropping onto it and propping his head up with his hand, his elbow on the wood.

"Sirius, it isn't that big of a deal," Remus said, taking the shuffled cards and handing them out, being careful not to bunch them all together on the table.

"Not that big of a deal? My birthday is tomorrow, Moony – it seems that the fair maiden has forgotten," Sirius frowned, picking up his cards and shuffling them again, making sure they stayed face down.

"I'm sure that she hasn't forgotten – why would she?"

"Don't forget Sirius, she forgot her own birthday." James said, laying one card on the table and Remus put his own card on top and then Sirius.

"That is true…" Sirius said, scratching the back of his neck, "I'm just annoyed that I wont get to see he—" the cards burst into flames, singing Sirius' eyebrows and covering him in ash as he blinked wildly at the smouldering cards. James tipped his head back and laughed joyfully, tipping his chair back on two legs just as the train jolted and James tumbled back onto the floor of the train and Remus laughed harder, gasping for breath at the image of James feet just visible over the table as they stuck straight into the air and Sirius let out a bark of a laugh.

Remus gazed at his friends, saddened to see the lack of Peter, which would have made this train ride complete, Remus thought, but he could no longer see properly because of the tears of laughter in his eyes.

"I am not amused," James said meekly and Remus doubled up with laughter, slapping his knee in merriment. Sirius was slumped across the table, banging it with his fist.

"Shut up," James said, struggling to get back up, but seemingly he didn't have the strength and that just made it funnier.

Eventually he managed to get up, a shocked look on his face, his glasses askew and his red and gold T-shirt was twisted around him.

"You two look like hobo's," Remus said happily, shuffling the cards. "Another game?"

* * *

Hermione entered the Gryffindor Common Room to see that it was empty, which she always found eerie, as if the echo's of the parties and the laughter lingered, but it was empty – cold.

She collapsed on the red couch in front of the fire and stretched out, briefly wondering where Megara and Peter were before her mind wondered to her upcoming tasks. She had to join the Order of Phoenix, she knew that and maybe convince them about the Horcruxes, but maybe it would be better if she and Quinton worked on it in secret? She didn't want to worry Sirius and many of the Order would be confused and demand to know where she got the knowledge, something that she couldn't afford to tell them. She had only told Sirius because she was sick of lying to him, the man who told her truth and even let her in on his own secret (she already knew, but that was beside the point).

_That is_, Hermione thought glumly, _if he's even still talking to me_.

She knew that she'd have to do a lot of researching about the Horcruxes over the Christmas, to learn how to properly locate them and destroy them – she had already started back in 1997 and vaguely remembered, but she was finding that her memory wasn't co-operating that well.

She turned her head when she heard the portrait open and Peter stepped in, muttering under her breath and holding his wand clenched in his slightly podgy fist, sparks firing from the end of it, his gaze down, his cheeks a blazing red.

"Peter? Are you okay?" She cringed slightly asking that, but it seemed like a good opportunity to befriend him – well, at least start the process.

He looked up and his watery eyes shined with suspicion and Hermione frowned, wondering if his eyes were actually watery all the time or just now.

"Fine," he said stiffly and made to go up the stairs to the boys dorm, but Hermione jumped in front of him, halting his movements.

"Are you sure? You seem…emotional," she said, gesturing to the wand where the sparks where now a red colour.

"Fine," he repeated and Hermione had to hold in a sigh of exasperation. It was like dealing with a toddler.

"Well, if you're sure. You want to talk abut it, I'll be around," she smiled as genuinely as she could and Peter narrowed his gaze at her and Hermione tried not to gulp.

He nodded stiffly, up, down, back to centre, before stepping around her and up into the dorms.

* * *

Thankful when he collapsed into his bed, letting his body sink into the soft mattress and he spared his gaze to Remus and Sirius' beds (the latter of which was unmade with pillows stream everywhere) and let his memory relive what he had just encountered.

_Haydn Westwood was walking towards him, chatting to Eric Crawler and Peter just hoped that they would go past him, maybe glare, but that's it. Please leave me alone, please leave me alone…_

_No such luck. _

"_Oh, look who it is!" Eric crooned, moving so that together, him and Haydn blocked the corridor. _

"_What do you want?" Peter asked tiredly. _

"_You know what we want, Pettigrew," Haydn said, pushing up the sleeve of his robes and revealing the Dark Mark that Peter knew was there. _

"_No," he said with conviction, standing his ground as he had been doing all year. Why they wanted him, Peter wasn't sure, but he wasn't going to do it. No way. _

"_Well, then – " before he knew what was happening, Eric's forearm was pressed against his throat, his back against the brick wall. _

"_Let go of me!" Peter squealed, kicking out with his legs, hoping to make contact._

"_Er, let me think about that…" Eric drawled, putting more pressure on his throat, "no."_

"_You see, Pettigrew, its so obvious that all the Gryffindorks's are gonna go to the light side and we need someone on the in, someone who they trust – You."_

"_You see, Pettigrew, they don't care about you. You never go home for Christmas – Do they know why? Have they asked? Asked about how your mother abuses you? Have they? No. How about how your father touches you?" He shook his head mockingly and Haydn pulled Eric back letting Peter slump to the floor. _

Everything that they had said was true and Peter hated it. Maybe they didn't care about him enough to ask why he never went home, why he hated to go home during the summer holidays.

But they cared enough about him befriend him and let them in on their jokes, their secrets, given him a nickname made him feel part of the group.

For now, that was enough.

* * *

Hermione and Megara were chatting away together as they got ready for bed, Megara slipping into a deep purple nightgown while Hermione wore a large T-shirt that she commandeered from Sirius' draws this morning, taking it because 1) it smelt like him and therefore 2) gave her comfort.

"Oh, what did you get Sirius for his birthday?" Megara asked casually, flipping through a magazine as Charlie played by her feet – the dog was huge now, not the ball of fluff that it once was. Hermione froze in her movements of brushing her teeth and a sudden memory came back to her.

_"When's your birthday?" She repeated, her hands going around his chest under his chest, fingers splayed wide across his back and he unwound his arms from around her waist to grab the edges of his jacket then wrapping his arms around her shoulders, bringing the jacket with him effectively wrapping her in his warmth, which she gladly snuggled into._

_He chuckled and dropped a light kiss to the top of her head, "21st," he mumbled and his breathe ticked her scalp slightly. She frowned…21st of when? Who says their birthday backwards?_

_Sirius, apparently._

_"Of which month?" She pulled her head back and was not surprised to see a slightly amused look on Sirius' face._

_"December."_

"Oh, crap." She muttered around her toothbrush. She suddenly had a stroke of inspiration, an ingenius idea. She thanked her lucky stars and went to the Common Room, taking out some parchment and a Quill, setting down to work, hoping it was enough.

* * *

Sirius awoke at midnight to an owl tap-tap-tapping on the window. He groaned and rolled out of bed, his sock clad feet hitting the floor. He stood and stretched before scratching the back of his head and shuffled across the stone floor, covering a yawn with his forearm as he unlatched the window and the bird flew in, dropped a letter on the red bed spread and flew out again, its brown wing cuffing the top of his head.

With a sigh of discomfort and tiredness, he reached for the letter, his name written across the slightly discoloured parchment in loopy handwriting that he recognised as Hermione's.

Suddenly feeling alert, he ripped it open and took out the letter, wondering what she had to say for herself as he still felt cheated that she had forgotten his birthday.

_Sirius, _

_I need you to know, and this is very important, something I need to put your mind at ease about. We are miles apart now, but we're also decades apart as well – You know what I mean and I know that it creeps you out a little bit and I understand there. But, Sirius, I'm here, now and most likely forever. There doesn't seem to be a way for me to get back to my own time and, even if there was, I don't think I'd take it. You see, I've known you for two and a bit years and, I know you don't believe this, but I know you. You're happy to let people think that you're a player but, in all honesty, you just want a special someone and, maybe it could be me? I am so putting my heart on the line here and I'm not saying I love you, just that – Well, I'd stay here for you. _

_Due to my idiocy, I forgot you're birthday, and I will readily admit that. I won't hide behind false excuses and reasons and I think you'd appreciate that. But are you surprised, really, I forgot my own! _

_I just, I need you to see that I am not leaving. I know that your feelings for me are strong and I can certainly say that I return them. So, I'm afraid that this is all I can give you on your birthday in 1977. My word that I wont leave you. Ever. Even if we break up and the world goes in flames I'll never leave you. _

_Love, _

_Hermione._

_P.S – Your Christmas present is pretty big, so I might class it as two presents to make up for it if my attempt at this promise letter isn't enough for you._

_Xxxxx_

Sirius stared at the letter for a long time and, in that time; a stupid grin appeared on his face, turning up at the corners. He had to suppress the need to whoop and cheer, before he realised that he was a wizard who was seventeen years of age and who could actually perform magic. He grabbed his wand of the Nightstand, quickly cast a silencing charm and yelled at the top of his voice, throwing his head back like a wolf howling to the moon before he began to jump on the bed.

Hermione didn't realise it, but she had given him the best present ever and he knew that nothing would compare to this.

* * *

_A/N: Okay, this was a pretty long chapter to make up for all the three page chapters I've been posting lately – Now that it's my summer holidays (nine and a half weeks of summer bliss!) I can write properly again. _

_A reviewer asked how long this story is going to be and the answer? I don't know. But I can tell you it's going to be very very long, I am no where near finished. I have at least another three years to cover year, but I wont go into the other years just as much and after Christmas and Regulus' plan, this school year will go by pretty fast as well – It wont take me twenty odd chapter to go over three months. I just wanted to create this world and not rush into it, if that makes sense. _

_Also! Another reviewer mentioned that I don't tell the viewer when the P.O.V changes and I am so sorry. I never realised until now that Fanfic don't let you use the asterisk star things (is that what they're called?) I used them to split the chapters up and let the reader know when the P.O.V changed, but they didn't come up. I'm now using the line thing on the edit page which seems to be working and I will eventually get around to adding them onto the previous chapter – If I can figure out how to do it :/ _

_Thanks for reading!_

_Kelly _

_xxx _


	29. The Bookworm and The Prankster

**Disclaimer: **_Not mine :(_

**Weight of the World**

**Chapter 29**

25th December 1977

"Wake up!" Someone bounded onto Hermione at God knows what time in the morning and Hermione groaned, rolling onto her side, dragging the threadbare blankets around her body tighter. She ignored Megara beside her, bouncing up and down, making the bed wobble.

"Its Christmas time!" She sang off-key, doing a strange shoulder dance and Hermione slowly sat up, squinting at Megara, her long brown hair was pulled up into a ponytail, her big blue eyes blinking innocently at her.

"Not at half past seven in the morning it isn't," she said, pushing her blanket off of her and throwing her legs over the side of her bed, knowing that she would still be pestered whether she got up or not.

"Presents!" She cried and Hermione laughed lightly. As a child, she had never really found that much patience for Christmas, preferring the festivities of the holidays rather then the holiday itself – mainly because she just usually got books from her friends and family.

"Let's go!" Megara cried, bounding off the bed to the closet, letting Charlie out before running down the stairs, the golden Labrador following in his master's wake, his golden tail waggling furiously.

Hermione shook her head on amusement and stood up, briefly washing up before making her way down the stairs in time to see a groggy Peter being dragged into the Common Room by Megara who was babbling about Christmas and Egg-nog and Roman Candles.

Hermione dropped to the floor by the tree, sitting cross-legged and covering a yawn with her hand, hoping that Megara didn't see. She paid her no notice what-so-ever and practically dived into the pile, digging out all their presents. Hermione caught Peter's eyes over Megara and gave him a friendly _I-can't-belive-that-she-dragged-us-down-here-at-this-God-awful-time-of-morning _look and he returned with a roll of his eyes.

Being a rat did nothing for him, Hermione decided, remembering the withered hair, buckteeth, sharp fingernails and skin that looked liver-spotted. Now, across from him sat a boy who had smooth skin, a full head of golden-brown hair and, in all honesty, didn't resemble a rat at all, except for his small, watery eyes, which must be his marking.

Before she knew what was happening, a box covered in Christmas paper was lobbed at her, and it was only due to her reflexes from fighting that she caught it before it sailed over her head and crashed into the sofa.

"That's from Lil-Lil!" Megara sang and Hermione wondered where she got the sunny disposition from that morning.

When they had their presents from everybody, they ripped the paper apart and squealed and yelled when they saw what they had, the wrapping paper littered the floor and themselves, Megara had managed to get ribbons all around her and Peter had a huge, pink bow around his neck.

Hermione stared at the presents in front of her, pleased with them this year and the sheer amount she found herself with was quite a lot. From 'Lil-Lil' she had gotten a beautiful dark blue jumper, which she had instantly put on and was pleasantly surprised to find that, even though it was knitted, it didn't itch like it should have done. From James she had got some gold stud earrings in the shape of a H. Remus had got her a gigantic bag of Bertie Botts Every Flavoured Beans and some White Sugar Mice that squeaked in their packet. Peter, who Hermione was surprised to see had gotten her something, had gotten her some red gloves to match the scarf she had received on her make-shift birthday from him. Rayne had gotten her a fluffy thick dressing gown with her initials sown into the breast pocket; Thoma had gotten her vibrant coloured headbands, from orange to lime green, she know owned them all. Kara got her some gorgeous shoes that the inner feminine in her squealed in joy at and from Megara she had got a T-shirt with the words: 'Nobody's perfect…I'm nobody…So therefore, I'm perfect!' printed onto it.

"Good hoard this year," Megara said, nodding her head where her new tall, white England hat sat atop her hair, looking utterly ridiculous.

"What did Sirius get you, Hermione?" Megara asked, her blue eyes glittering, "he got me and Peter boxes of droobles and chocolate frogs and cockroach clusters and the like," she said.

Hermione smiled at the childish gifts that Sirius had purchased but wasn't at all surprised in all honesty. "He got me this bracelet," she said shyly, holding her arm up, showing off the gold bracelet that sat on her wrist.

"Didn't he get you a charm bracelet for your birthday?" Peter asked around a mouth of lemon drops and his face puckered at the sour taste.

"Yeah, he did." Hermione lifted her other arm to show them the bracelet that Sirius had gotten her, which she hadn't taken off since. "But he also gave me this note. It says: Want another surprise? Go to the Astronomy tower, my love."

"Meh, I think I prefer the bracelet better. Is it the same one?" Megara asked, sounding slightly affronted and Hermione shook her head.

"No, my birthday one had standard charms on it, you know, horseshoe, four leaf clover and such. This one has charms that represent us," Hermione said, her brown eyes alight with the knowledge and Megara and Peter looked at each other with their eyebrows raised.

"Hermione, you've been dating for like, two months. What could possibly represent your relationship?" She asked, opening up the Nail Varnish kit that Thoma sent her and looked at the array of colours that ranged from the palest pink to the most vibrant orange – Thoma was all about the colour.

"Lots of things," she stretched out on the floor on her front and let her finger touch each individual charm as she told the little stories and their meanings. "The lion is obvious, it's—"

"The symbol of Gryffindor, uh-huh, I get that," Megara carefully chose a pale yellow and opened the lid, the comforting smell of the Nail Varnish assaulted Hermione's senses and her eyes watered slightly.

"Well, the crossed wands represent Charms classroom and the –"

"Wait, what does Charms class have to do with your relationship?" Peter asked, unfolding the black and white scarf that Lily had got for him.

_"Oi!" Hermione turned around fast and dropped her bag, grabbing her wand and pointing it at the person behind her, who raised a delicately shaped eyebrow and held his hands up to his chest in mock surrender. "You're awfully jumpy, Hermione," Sirius commented and Hermione blinked in confusion, for a second thinking in her head that he was saying she had jumped. She sighed and lowered her wand, her eyes meeting his. He grinned and lowered his own hands, digging in his pockets and producing a packet of Bertie Botts every flavoured beans. "Want one?"_

_Hermione shook her head no and picked up her bag, turning to walk off, deliberately going the wrong way down the corridor, wondering if he'd point it out._

_"Where you going?" He called after her, popping another bean in his mouth, his face puckering up when the sourness rested on his tongue, making his taste-buds pop._

_"Err…Charms," she said, looking over her shoulder at him, grateful that he had his uniform on._

_"You could go that way, although that would mean going down the stairs, go through the door, around the corner, through another door, up some stairs, down the corridor, up some more stairs, through a door that looks like a wall and the first door on your left is Charms," he looked distrustfully at a white bean and he hesitantly stuck his tongue out letting it slowly lick the bean and Hermione had a sudden rush of liquid feelings, coiling her stomach muscles tightly and a distinct wondering of where all the butterflies came from. He frowned, the corners of his mouth going down in distaste as he threw it over his shoulder._

_"Okay…I'll-" she gulped, "I'll be on my way," Hermione turned on her heel, having understood Sirius' directions perfectly and intending to go that way, but she was once again stopped by Sirius._

_"I said you __could__ go that way, but I know a much quicker way, five minutes tops if you dawdle," he held his hand out, the one not holding the bag of Bertie Botts every flavoured beans. "You trust me?_

"It was the first time that we truly spoke, on the way to charms class," Hermione smiled at the memory and was amazed at the development their relationship took.

"Okay, I see the symbolic-ness, I'm actually shocked that Sirius remembers," Megara raised an eyebrow.

"Symbolic-ness is not a word," Hermione said absently, realising that Megara was right – It was quite shocking that he remembered all these small details.

Megara shot her a glare and sniffed, going back to painting her toe-nails. "Any other charm symbols?" She asked, her curiosity betraying her.

"Ice-cream is the next one," Hermione said, and she saw the confusing looks of her…friend and acquaintance again.

"Hermione, these are all completely random." Megara informed her, trying to blow cool air on her toes, but failing horribly.

"Yeah, to you."

_He smiled and tickled the pear, watching her face light up as the handle appeared and he pulled the now door open._

_Hermione looked around, taking the kitchen in, in all its glory, Sirius assumed and when the house-elves came foreword, she laughed when they all shoved food under her nose on their silver platters._

_"Right," Sirius said, clapping his hands, directing all attention to him. "We are having a party and we need a load of food, chocolate, ice-cream, sweets…Whatever you got, we'll take."_

_"Siri, sir!" He felt something pull on his jean leg and when he looked down, Tipsy was stood there "we no do that now. You wait, yes?" Sirius crouched down and put his hand on Tipsy's shoulder._

_"We don't mind waiting, do we Hermione?" Sirius asked but without waiting for a reply he continued, "On one condition…" Tipsy's eyes widened as big as tennis balls, the bright red of the pupil expanding. "Got any ice-cream?"_

_Five minutes later they were sat at a table with ice-cream, Sirius had opted for a flavour called 'Tiger' which was vanilla, orange and liquorice, while Hermione went normal and went for chocolate._

_"So," Sirius started, taking a bite of his tiger flavoured ice-cream, which he thought tasted quite nice, "do you have a middle name?"_

_Hermione looked at him weirdly before laughing quietly, moving the spoon around, trying to get a decent sized hunk of chocolate ice-cream. "Yeah, it's Jean," she pulled a face and licked the ice-cream off her spoon, her little pink tongue snaking out of her mouth and Sirius' muscles tightened and he looked away quickly, back at his ice-cream._

_"That's an," he cleared his throat, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable and he rubbed the back of his neck, "odd name," he uttered, feeling very self-conscious when he felt her gaze on him._

_"It was my Grandmother's name," she said quietly and Sirius looked up to see her picking at the wood of the table that they were seated at._

_"Where you close to your grandmother?" Sirius asked, deeming it safe to look at her now that she wasn't licking the ice-cream and took another bite of his own which he decided was the best flavour ice-cream ever._

"Fair point," Megara said and Peter nodded.

"Next one!" He called and Hermione smiled. Now that she had a plan and was trying to let Peter in, she saw that he wasn't the evil backstabbing rat that he would turn into.

"Okay, a broomstick-"

"Hermione, you're afraid to fly," Peter said and Hermione was shocked to know that he knew that.

"It's where we had our first kiss, on a broom," she said absently and Megara awed in the background as Hermione quickly revisited that memory.

_"Come on, Hermione," he whispered in her ear, "you're not looking at the beautiful scenery," he said, "although, it's not as beautiful as you,"_

_Her eyes popped open in shock and her head ducked from under his chin to look at him, surprise all over her face. Sirius pulled the broom to a stop and his gun metal grey eyes locked on hers. He used the arm around her to slide up her side and cup her cheek._

_"You've done something to me, Hermione," he whispered, leaning his forehead against her, so close that all he could see was her chocolate brown eyes, "I'm going crazy," the hand at her cheek slid behind her head, he entwined his fingers in her curls and kissed her forehead letting his lips linger, his eyes closed when heat spread through his body._

_"Sirius," she whispered and he moved his head back to look at her and saw __something__ in her eyes, which was enough for him. He leaned foreword to brush his lips across hers; only when he was close, a hairs-breath away from her lips did her eyes close, and Sirius mimicked her actions. Their lips brushed hesitantly and Sirius felt something explode in his stomach, firework setting off and his blood went from hot to cold, like ice was spreading through his veins. He jerked back and the look on Hermione's face mirrored his, telling him that she had felt the same thing. He found himself gasping for breath even though their lips had only lightly brushed against each other._

"That is absolutely adorable!" Megara cried and Hermione felt the hair on her arms rise slightly as she was taken back to memories of a squealing Lavender.

"The pumpkin's the next one," Hermione said and she smiled as she recalled their morning encounter on Halloween.

_"Happy Halloween!" Someone shouted, waking Hermione from her deep sleep with a dream that involved popcorn, the cinema and Sirius. "Wake up, Hermione!" Someone squealed, bouncing on her bed. Hermione opened her eyes fully to see Kara stood at the foot of her bed with vampire fangs in._

_"Urgh, go away," Hermione said, turning over in her bed, dragging the quilt with her. Kara laughed and traipsed out the room, Hermione could distinctly hear talking at the base of the stairs as her eyes slipped closed again and she went right back to the cinema._

_"Wakey, wakey!" Hermione moaned in frustration and burrowed even further into the quilt, annoyed that Sirius was laughing._

_"That's a beautiful noise you just made, sound even better if it was in ecstasy instead of annoyance," he teased and Hermione kicked him in the shin. He hissed and bent to grab her foot, tugging hard. She squealed as she pulled from the bed and her and the sheets fell off. Sirius couldn't help but laugh as she glanced at him through her lashes and she pouted; she looked adorable._

_"You're so frustrating!" She scolded, standing up and putting her hands on her hips. She looked at him and decided that he looked undeniably handsome in his black wife beater and baggy blue jeans, his wand loosely shoved in the front pocket._

_She was suddenly aware that she was only in a purple tank top, but she had pyjama bottoms on and fluffy white socks, so she didn't feel too exposed._

_"You're so annoying," Sirius shot back, jumping on her back and linking his hands behind his head, reclining. "Hurry up and get dressed, were going to Hogsmeade." Hermione raised her eyebrow and Sirius shrugged, not moving from his position._

"I never knew that Sirius could be so charming," Megara said dreamily, staring at Hermione with lustful brown eyes while Peter scoffed and leaned back on his arms.

"Megara, are you utterly stupid? How do you think he got all those lasses to sleep with him?" Peter asked and Megara stuck her tongue out at him.

"I know, it just never worked on me, and I never actually heard any of these stories before – It's all so cute!" She was beginning to remind Hermione of a banshee, just squealing on and on and on and on…

"Come on then, Kingsley, next one!"

"Oh, it's a book, to represent me and the next one's a playing card, to represent him. You know, the joker and the bookworm sort of thing." She said, slightly embarrassed.

"It sounds like you're Super Heroes or something," Megara grinned and Hermione couldn't help the twitch at the edge of her lips.

"It does sound rather comical, don't you think?" Hermione smiled slowly and nodded her head. It was also amusing to her because the joker was a villain and batman and Sirius was anything but.

"Any more charms?" Megara asked peering at it.

"Only one more, and that's a bonfire. That's when my makeshift birthday party was." She told them and they nodded in remembrance.

_"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" The hall screamed as one and Hermione stepped back in shock, a hand clasping at her heart._

_"Oh, God! What the hell?" She asked, thoroughly and utterly confused._

_"Well, you didn't get to celebrate your birthday," Sirius beside her said, wrapping an arm around her waist. "So were doing it now. It's a bit late, mind but…" he trailed off, his grip tightening around her, bringing her closer. She saw her friends under a huge banner which said "Happy Birthday Hermione!" With a ginger cat charmed to run along the bottom of it. Leaves had been charmed to fall from the ceiling and disappear before they hit any student's heads. Hermione saw a mix of Ravenclaw's, Hufflepuff's and Gryffindor's, but not a single Slytherin insight, aside from Professor Slughorn who was sat at the Teacher's table along with Professor McGonagall, Professor Dumbledore, Professor Flitwick and Quinton and his wife, Hayley._

_"There never was a Bonfire night ball, was there?" she asked and Sirius grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head, gazing at her with something akin to…Hope?_

_She understood instantly that he wanted her to love what he had put effort into, and she did. Glancing at the students, her friends, standing, getting all dressed up for her and she felt her heart swell and almost burst for the sudden love she held for them, almost equal to that of Harry and Ron and she felt tears well up in her eyes. Her mouth pulled upwards and she grinned at them all. They all cheered and James set off a couple of party poppers, the music started and the party began._

"Good times! You weren't even expecting it!" Megara giggled and Hermione smiled at her before standing up and brushing the back of her pyjama bottoms and stretching her arms above her head.

"Where are you off to?" Peter asked, and Hermione was glad that the conversation that they had had that morning wasn't forced on her part and she found it quite easy to talk to him.

When her thoughts weren't on his betrayal anyway.

"I'm gonna go see what my surprise is," she said, flashing the note to him really quickly and leaving the common room, wondering what else he could have gotten her.

She hoped that he liked the onyx necklace that she had bought for him – the jet black stone had holes drilled into its sides and a black chord threaded through them that expanded to fit over his head. It would protect the wearer from curses – not all curses, mind you, but if someone shot the jelly-legs curse at him or ricoshampra, the stone would deflect the spell back onto the caster. Also it would glow red and get hot if someone that he cared about was in danger. She figured that during the war, it would be a very useful for him to have.

Reaching the Astronomy tower, she frowned at the emptiness of the room and sighed, thinking that the house-elves hadn't left the present there yet and went to lean against the railings.

There, attached to the black railings, fluttering in the wind lightly, was another note. Hermione frowned and pushed a piece of hair behind her ear before picking up the note and reading his little, cramped, all capital lettered handwriting, which said: "Ha! Fooled you! Your present isn't here – You think it'd be that easy? And I thought that you were smart!" She could practically hear the teasing tone and she couldn't stop the eye-roll and chuckle. "Your next stop is…The Kitchens!"

Hermione groaned – he was going to send her on a wild goose chase through the castle, which she was slightly excited about, she had to admit. Plus, in the kitchens, she could have some Hot Chocolate.

When she finished her long trek to the Kitchens, she took a moment to get her breath back – She was slightly annoyed that Sirius had to power to send her from one end of the castle to the other when he wasn't even here. She reached out a finger and tickled the pair lightly, grabbing hold and tugging when it turned into a door-handle, stepping into the room crowded with House-elves who all turned to look at her as one and, she had to admit, it was slightly scary.

"Hermy!" They cried and circled her instantly, offering her chocolate, sweets and anything else they possibly could. Hermione laughed them off and placed her hand on the top of the closest one.

"What's your name?" She asked kindly, and the house-elf, with huge blue eyes, ears like a bat and a long thin nose who was wearing a pretty pink dress blushed slightly.

"Dizzy, missy," she said shyly and Hermione smiled, crouching in front of her.

"Dizzy – has Sirius left a note for me?" She asked and Dizzy shook her head, her huge ears flapping against her head.

"Oh, well then, can I have some Hot Chocolate please?" She asked and Dizzy jumped and set to get it as Hermione took a seat at the Ravenclaw table, resting her head against the table.

"Here you go, Missy Hermy!" Dizzy said excitedly and Hermione took it from her gratefully, sipping it, tasting the flavour burst on her tongue. She quietly contemplated why Sirius had failed to leave her a message as she drank, confusion giving way to anger.

As she drank the last morsel of her delicious drink, she spied writing at the bottom of the mug.

"No way," she muttered slightly, tipping the mug in a way that a shadow wouldn't be created as she read the printed words. 'So predictable, Hermione. I knew that you'd go for the Hot chocolate! Now, you want your present? Go to the seventh floor.'

The room of requirement. Hermione was happy that he chose to divulge this secret to her as well and she found herself almost running to the Seventh floor, excitement taking over and she was almost jittery with it. What else could he have possibly got her?

She almost crashed into Megara and Peter on her way there and Megara demanded that she stop and talk to them.

"I thought you were going to the Astronomy tower?" She asked, confusion evident on her pretty face.

"It's a Wild Goose chase – I'm off now, I need the next clue!" Hermione said in one breath and it took a moment for Megara to process it before she turned and shouted after Hermione: "Its dinner ti—DINNER TIME!"

Hermione paid her no heed and carried on down the corridor, thankful that it was the Christmas Holidays or she would never have made it there, the constant amount of students that she would have run into her would have slowed her down considerably.

It wasn't until she was stood in the seventh floor that she realised that she didn't know what she was supposed to say to gain entrance to the room for Sirius specific needs for her present. Looking around, she saw a strip of white paper on the wall and she grabbed it, almost ripping it in the process. 'Okay, Hermione, this may sound strange, but walk up and down three times thinking: I need a place to see my present, I need a place to see my present. Watch the magic happen.'

She almost squealed, the feelings overwhelming as she followed his instructions and watched the huge door appear in the stone wall, the black door detailed with bronze and the door handle was bronze as well. She held it and almost yanked it open but she forced herself to take a deep breath before calmly opening the door.

What she saw literally took her breath away as she gazed at the blanket of billions of stars surrounding her, giving her the impression that she was, in fact, in space. She could see the cosmo's, comet's, a dying star, it's red colour making it stand out from the rest as it pulsated with it's power. For a second, its beauty took her breath away and she felt like she had been transported to a different world.

"Oh, my God…" She muttered under her breath, so far under the spell that she nearly forgot to breathe – "it's just so _beautiful."_

"Not as beautiful as you." She whipped her head around, almost loosing her footing before arms wrapped around her waist, bringing her foreword into a familiar chest, his scent overwhelming her senses.

"Sirius?" She asked amazed, returning his embrace as she gazed into his grey eyes which seemed black in the light and he winked at her.

"The one and only. What, you thought I was going to leave you alone on Christmas?" He asked, sounding incredulous.

Hermione gazed in wonderment for a second, deciding that the stars just brought out his amazing looks before she gently pulled him foreword just as he pulled her up and their lips met. Their lips moved against each other as one, slow at first before they picked up speed and Sirius sensually stroked her lips with his tongue. His breath came out in sharp spurts from his nose across her cheek as his hands wondered down to her thighs, gently lifting until she obediently jumped, wrapping her legs around his waist as one of his arms slid under her thighs, supporting her while the other went diagonally across her back.

They broke the kiss, only to tilt their heads the other way and start again, Hermione feeling her arms and legs tingling as they kissed, their tongues stroking and he gently nipped her lips, causing her to moan slightly. They swayed on the spot as Hermione gently cupper his jaw and right then, with Sirius, Hermione felt complete, surrounded by the stars.

_A/N: Okay, I put the flashbacks in because I wanted to show how Sirius and Hermione's relationship has progressed and because it's been so long since I updated, readers may have forgotten little bits, so I just added them in there really quickly. _

_I hope you like this chapter! It's been my longest one by far and I've enjoyed writing it – I hope you enjoy reading it!_

_Review!_

_Kelly_

_xxx _


	30. Stargazing and a future death

**Disclaimer: **_Not mine._

**Weight of the World**

**Chapter 30**

Sirius and Hermione were laid on the floor, staring at the stars surrounding them and Sirius felt at ease – It was as if a huge barrier had been lifted between them and they were closer then ever before. Now that she wasn't holding back her thoughts anymore, she was happy to talk to him about topics of the future, the topic at the minute having turned to Harry.

"Harry looks exactly like James – He's a carbon copy of him, but he has Lily's eyes, defiantly," she said, a smile on her face as she talked about her old school friend, "he's a Gryffindor, brave and all, but he really can be ridiculously heroic – and not in a good way," she chuckled lightly and Sirius kissed the scar on her hairline.

"Why does he have to be heroic?" Sirius asked, lightly stroking his fingers up her spine, "I mean, there's no danger, right?" Hermione stiffened in his arms and he knew, he just knew that she wasn't going to give him good news.

"Oh, Sirius," she breathed, "Voldemort's still out there – why do you think I'm so good at fighting?" She lifted her head, resting her chin on his chest and he looked down into her chocolate brown eyes.

"I forgot about it, actually," he said sheepishly before giving her a guilty grin. Hermione smiled back and placed her head back on his chest, her ear pressed against the beat of his heart.

"I figure that, while I'm stuck here, I might as well do some good. There's an organization called the Order of the Phoenix that will be set up by Dumbledore, and I'm going to join it, maybe with my knowledge of him from my own time I can make a difference," she said wistfully and Sirius felt his blood pulse and his heart beat quicken at the thought of her fighting in battle, in danger, somewhere where he couldn't protect her, couldn't keep her safe. But for now he let it go, knowing that if he fought her on this, at this time, then their Christmas will be ruined.

"Hey, where's my present, by the way?" Hermione asked, shifting in his arms.

"He's holding you," he said simply and he didn't miss the disappointed sigh escape from her lips. "Oi, cheeky, not many people get such a fine gift, you should count yourself lucky," he teased and Hermione shifted again, giggling slightly. Sirius got a wicked idea and he let his hands trail to her waist, hoping that she wouldn't catch on.

"I know, but I was expecting diamonds," she said extravagantly, "I assume that a wealthy man like you would have no trouble – No, Sirius! Ahh! Stop!" She laughed as Sirius fingers dug into her soft skin, stroking, tickling. She bucked, trying to escape his grasp but he refused to relinquish his hold, just tickling her harder. "Stop…" She gasped through her bouts of laughter and Sirius expertly rolled them over, so that she was on the floor and he was hovering over her, the dying star visible just behind her fanned out hair.

"What's the magic word?" He said teasingly, straddling her thighs, immobilizing her.

"Now!" She got out, her laughing almost inaudible.

"Guess again, Sweetheart!" He laughed with her, feeling her legs kick out as she attempted to escape, but no such luck fro Hermione.

"…Pl…ea…se…" she was clutching at her stomach and Sirius decided to let her relax and stopped tickling her, his finger just softly stroking her flesh, soothing it.

"Now, that wasn't so hard, was it?" He asked and Hermione glared at him, the occasional giggle escaping every now and then.

"I – hate- you…" Sirius just laughed at her feeble attempt at a put down and lowered his face and tilted his head so that their lips were aligned.

"Sure you do, love," he said against her lips, letting his own brush against hers as he spoke and he almost groaned himself at the taste on her lips – Hot chocolate, just like he knew she would.

She lifted her head up so that she was the one to connect their lips and he felt the familiar tug in his abdomen at the contact. He left one hand at her waist, his thumb rubbing in small circles as he other rested by her head. Hers twined with his hair, tugging it at the roots and he fed her small, passionate kisses. He still couldn't believe the effect that she had on him with just her kisses – they were almost explosive.

He broke the kiss and trailed light kisses across her jaw and down her neck, sucking lightly on her pulse point, smirking against her skin when she gasped. She had a way of lifting his ego, he thought, as he nipped lightly at her collar bone. They wouldn't take it any further tonight, Sirius knew, and he didn't expect her to. Yeah, he was a man but he wasn't an animal, he could control himself until she was good and ready.

But he hoped that it would be soon.

When she gasped under him again and pulled on his hair, pulling the roots just so, he stopped and travelled back up her body to her lips, stroking her tongue sensually with his own, pleased when she responded, her breath picking up, clearly enjoying what he was doing to her with simply his mouth.

…And his thoughts were taking him to dirty places – places that he didn't need to be in right now. He broke the kiss and smiled at her before listing to the side so that he was on his back again, staring at the ceiling, charmed to look like the universe.

Hermione cuddled in to him and he was happy to let her do it, pleased even – he preferred girls who were touchy-feely, but not clingy, which is exactly what Hermione was.

"So, there isn't another present?" She asked, smirking and Sirius chuckled.

"There actually is, Kingsley," he said, "but we have to move to get it, and I am far too comfortable."

"Agreed." She said slowly, "Megara woke me up at God knows what time this morning."

"Did Meg like my present?"

"The England scarf?" She asked for confirmation and he hmm-ed in response. "Yeah, she was wearing it and that ridiculously tall hat on the way to dinner last time I saw them," she told him, one arm wrapping around his waist.

"Them?"

"Megara and Peter," she supplied, leaving his embrace, propping her head up on her hand, her elbow against the floor as she looked over him, her fingers lightly tracing patterns across his grey jumper.

"I'll go see Peter before I leave," Sirius made a mental-note to himself, unaware that he had spoken aloud as he reached a hand up and cupped her cheek, his finger tips tracing the soft skin.

"Why is Peter staying here anyways?" She asked him, her amber eyes staring inquisitively.

"That isn't my secret to tell, love. I trust you, but I won't betray a friends trust," he said apologetically and Hermione smiled, leaning into his palm.

"He'd be glad to know that," she whispered, turning her head and kissing the heel of his hand.

"Hermione," he said softly, watching her trace kisses down his wrist over his pulse point, "you drive me crazy, did you know that?" She stopped her ministrations and looked up at him, her gaze hooded and she let a small smirk grace her features.

"I think I did," Sirius let out a slight moan and tightened his grip on her cheek, bringing her down to slowly kiss her lips. He loved the things he did to her without even trying, the moths in his stomach when she was near, the slight catch of his breath when she touched him, the electric jolt in his limbs when she kissed him, his heart beat quicker when he caught her scent – he was crazy for her. He was absolutely crazy for Hermione Kingsley.

This time, Hermione was the one who broke the kiss and trailed little pecks over his jaw and down his neck, lighting running her tongue under his ear and he shuddered at the motion, letting his eyes roll back into his head slightly as he grasped her hips.

* * *

Hermione was very much enjoying the way that she could make him react and, like Sirius, she felt that, by her telling him the truth, she had lifted a barrier between them. She smirked against his skin when she hit a sensitive spot and he groaned lightly, his hand wandered up her spine and into her brown, curly hair.

"Merlin, Hermione," he gasped.

She left his skin and went back to his mouth, lightly nibbling and she took advantage of his moan, slipping her tongue inside his mouth and he readily responded, lifting his upper body up, trying to gain more access.

_Hey Hermione…It's me, Ron. Again. Look, I shouldn't be here, you're not in Hogwarts anymore, Hermione…_

Hermione broke the kiss and looked around frantically, her eyes wide and searching.

"Hermione?" Sirius gasped, leaning on his arms behind him, "what's wrong?"

Before she could respond, her vision white-d out and she found herself in bed, staring up at Ron.

"_You're in St. Mungo's." Ron continued sadly, bowing his head, his ginger hair falling into his blue eyes. "I just came to say – well, Merry Christmas, Hermione," his voice broke and Hermione was reminded of the time she was petrified, able to see and hear, but in a constant state of unawareness – she couldn't move, couldn't think, couldn't feel, couldn't sleep – just see and hear. _

"_I have to go now, but my mother will be here soon," he said sadly and Hermione wanted to reach out to him, comfort him, but she couldn't move her limbs and she was shocked to find that she couldn't blink. He stood and went to the door, pausing at the doorway his hand on the doorframe. "I love you, Hermione. I hope you know that." She felt her heart break and she chastised herself for forgetting about her friends' pain – it tore at her heart to see Ron so upset. Not for the first time, she wished that she could go back home. _

"_Miss Granger?" A new voice permitted the air and Hermione's eye flickered to see a very tall, skinny man with long, messy light brown hair and the bluest eyes that Hermione had ever seen, glasses balancing at the end of his long nose. He looked older, tired, but she knew who it was. "Miss Kingsley," he breathed and stepped into the room. "I hope you know that you're appearance in the past is giving me a headache – and Remus!" He chuckled, "you just keep popping up randomly – err, sorry about yelling at you, by the lake," he said nervously, rubbing the back of his neck with his left hand – there was a tan line where his ring had once sat. "I know I've asked this before, but, please, if you can hear me, you need to save Hailey." His voice had changed from teasing to desperate as he sat on the plastic chair by her bedside. "December 31__st__…She…God, it isn't Death Eater business, she went into the Forbidden Forest and she never came out – alive anyway." He snorted and her let his fingers brush against his finger where his wedding band once sat. He sighed and hung his head. He smiled sadly and clutched her hand. "Please," and her eyes drifted shut. _

"Hermione, I got you, you're okay Sweetheart," when Hermione opened her eyes again her forehead was pressed against Sirius' chest and he was whispering to her, his cheek pressed against her hair. She had told him that these…episodes…were her revisiting her body, so to speak, so he knew not to take her to the hospital wing.

Hermione was slightly confused – she had been so sure that she wouldn't go back to 1997 again, and she had just been proved wrong. Also, the migraine and pain that accompanied her little trips were strangely vacant.

"Hermione, what happened?" He whispered, seemingly knowing that she was back with him.

"I have another person's life to save," she said, her breath snaking against his chest.

"Who?" He asked, moving away slightly to look into his eyes, cupping her jaw, his grey eyes alight with slight worry.

"Hailey," she exhaled, her mind going over what she had just been told.

"Quinton's wife?" He asked, a frown on his face, "how do you know that?"

"Quinton told me – when I went back to 1997 just them, he was there, asking me to save Hailey." She supplied, struggling to her feet, but Sirius remained sat there, a pensive look on his chiselled face. "What is it?" Hermione asked, raking a hand through her brunette curls.

"Did…Did you know Olivia was going to die?" Hermione froze and stared at him as she best thought how to answer him.

"Yes…and no," she finally admitted, refusing to meet his eyes. "I knew she was going to die, but I didn't think it'd be as soon as it was – I was sure that she died in 1998 – and Morgan is going to join the Order of Phoenix and become a double spy for us, working with the Death Eaters where he's found out a killed." She said all this in one breath, scared of his reactions but he simply blinked at her.

"You're going to help him, right? Stop him becoming a double spy?" He grabbed her hand.

"I can't." As soon as the words left her mouth, she knew that it was the wrong thing to say.

"What do you mean you _can't_?" He hissed, dropping her hand as if it had burned him.

"Sirius – he's going to meet up with someone and they're going to have a kid – I can't not let that happen, Sirius, I will not play God like that!" Her voice had risen in volume with each word until Sirius could see the electricity litteraly frizzing from her hair.

"Calm down, love," he said gently, holding her shoulders. He was well aware that it was him who had caused her anger to spike, and he would be the one to calm her down. She gazed at him, her eyes narrowed until she seemed to deflate, tiredness radiating from every pore.

"I can't stop him being a double spy, but I can try and stop him from being killed," she rubbed her face with her hands, bowing her head. "I can give Blaise a dad and a stable home, well, I can try," she sighed and turned on her heel, hugging her arms around herself.

"Where are you going?" He asked, following her to the door. The stars around them where still pulsing with their energy and a comet flew over their heads.

"I need to go see Quinton, Merlin, his wife is going to die in a matter of days," she froze as if the thought only just occurred to her. "Right, I need to go see him, I'll see you afterwards?" She asked, and Sirius nodded, his jaw clenched. He hated it when he wasn't involved in her plans, but her let her go none-the-less – she was too stubborn to persuade otherwise.

She stood on her tiptoes and pressed a chaste kiss to his lips, her petite hands framing his jaw, pushing his black hair from his face and his hands rested leisurely on the small of her back. "I still want my present, Mr. Black," she whispered against his lips and he smirked.

"I'll see you in the Gryffindor Common room later." He said, releasing her and she turned and grasped the door handle, which appeared to be suspended, floating in the stars with them and yanked the door open, heading left while he went right. Every instinct he had told him to follow her, but he fought the urge down, heading to the Common room to see Peter and Meg and wish them a Merry Christmas as well.

Just not expressed the same way, of course.

* * *

Hermione burst open the DADA classroom only to reach in and slam it shut again, cutting off her view of the couple on the desk, images that she didn't need in her mind and was seriously considering obliviating her memory of what she had just witnessed when the door opened again and Quinton stood there, his shirt buttoned wrong, his hair ruffled and his shoes on the wrong feet and she couldn't hide the smirk that graced her features.

"What is it, Hermione?" He hissed, leaning against the doorframe, the door edge of the door on his side, effectively blocking her view of his naked wife and she was quite happy for that.

Obviously, he was still angry about her having told Sirius and she filed that away to talk to him properly about later – this was urgent.

"Listen, I know you're angry at me, whatever. But this needs disregarding for now – I know who's going to die next." Her words had an obvious effect on him and he sighed, blowing some hair that had fallen over his eyes.

"Go to the Kitchens. I'll be there in a minute." He said and Hailey moaned making Hermione cringe. "Maybe two," the door closed in her face and she breathed out, knowing that the image would haunt her for awhile – not that there was nothing wrong with the act and they were both fairly attractive people but…He was her teacher! It was just so very, very wrong.

Ten minutes later, Hermione was drumming her fingers on the Gryffindor table, impatiently waiting for Quinton to get down here, but having no desire to go back upstairs and drag him down. When the door eventually opened and Quinton walked through, Hermione's patience had been tested.

"What the hell took you so long?" She snapped as Quinton slid into the seat opposite you and he raised his eyebrow.

"Do you really want to know?" He scratched his chest and wave off a persistent house elf who kept offering him a variation of dishes, particularly tuna salad and steak cut into the shape of a trout.

"Er…no," she admitted.

"Alright then, Hermione. Who's next to die?" He asked with some hesitance and Hermione actually faltered, not knowing how to tell her Defence teacher that his wife was going to die in six days. She opened her mouth to say just that, but ended up closing it again, doing a very good impression of a fish. "Well? Spit it out?" He demanded, leaning his elbows on the table.

"Well…you see…It's…Well—"

"Hermione, if you don't tell me who it is, so help me Merlin –"

"It's your wife," she blurted out and Quinton blinked at her, shock, fear and confusion showing in his features.

"What?" He stammered, his eyes impossibly widening, "Hermione, that's not funny -"

"You think I'm joking?" She laughed shrilly and felt desperation and a need for control seep into her belly, "I'm being serious. I'm so, so, sorry, but your wife is going to die."

_A/N: A bit of a cliff-hanger there for ya, will they save Hailey? Will they not? You'll have to read and find out!_

_Thanks for all of those who reviewed! _

_Happy reading!_

_Kelly_

_xxx_


	31. Broken Promises

**Disclaimer: **_Not mine :(_

**Weight of the World**

**Chapter 31**

Quinton blinked at her before pushing from his seat and pacing back and forth, wringing his hands and muttering to himself. Hermione watched him sadly, remembering the old, tired man who was sat beside her bed-side begging for help to save his wife.

Quinton turned around quickly and Hermione had the impression that he was staring right through her, reading her thoughts – but she couldn't feel anyone invading her mind, so she dismissed that idea quite quickly.

"When?" He croaked his eyes slightly watery.

"31st." She answered, slowly standing herself and walking around to him, "I'm so-"

"Don't say it as if she's already de—" he breathed in sharply at the last word, not being able to bear the thought of his wife dead and Hermione nodded – the thought was almost psychically painful.

"I won't," she promised, placing her hand on his arm, hoping to offer comfort. In his distress it seems that he had forgotten his previous anger at her and allowed the touch, drawing strength from it.

"How?" He asked again and Hermione shook her head, her brown locks flying.

"I don't know – all I know is that she goes into the Forbidden forest and she dies in there," she said gently.

"This has so put a damper on Christmas," he said and Hermione couldn't agree more.

* * *

Hermione stepped into the Common Room, pleased to hear the chatter and laughter of her friends before she saw that the entire Marauder's were here and a thought propped up in her mind.

"How did you all even get in here?" She asked, leaning over the back of the couch between Sirius and Rayne, placing a kiss on the side of Sirius' head and he reached behind him to squeeze her shoulder before tugging her so that she walked around the crimson couch and sat down on his lap, his arm anchoring her to him.

"But Hermione, a magician never reveals his secrets!" James said dramatically, flaring his cape behind him and Hermione smiled tiredly.

"You came here through the Whomping Willows entrance, didn't you?" She whispered into Sirius' ear and he looked at her shocked for a moment before barking a laugh and pulling her closer, resting his chin on her shoulder, staring into the dancing fire.

"What's this present, Sirius?" She asked, a familiar glint returning to her eyes and he jumped slightly, as if suddenly remembering something important.

"Oh yeah!" He said loudly, standing quickly, letting Hermione collapse to the floor. The Marauders and Megara laughed merrily, amused to see her scowl at Sirius as he went to his bag. "Close your eyes!" He sang tauntingly and Hermione rolled her eyes before following his instructions obediently and holding out her hands.

A box was placed in her outstretched palms and she felt Sirius take the lid off the box and it…moved? A cold nose pressed to hers and she instinctively moved back, her eyes snapping open taking the grey tabby cat that was blinking innocently at her, it's big amber eyes wide and curious and it's whiskers twitched once and Hermione couldn't stop the girlie squeal that escaped her lips and the cat's ears pressed flat to it's head, as if offended by the noise.

"It is so cute!" She said in a totally uncharacteristic manner, placing the box gently on the floor and lifting the cat from the box, letting it curl over her shoulder. "I absolutely adore it!"

"You know, _she _is probably slightly offended by now," Sirius said, sitting behind her on the floor, his legs framing her.

"She…Oh, I need to name you, don't I?" Hermione spoke to the tabby, knowing that she couldn't talk back and she flicked her tail backwards and forewords across her collar bone and Hermione contemplated names.

"Call her Veronica," Rayne supplied helpfully and Hermione raised her eyebrows.

"No, call her Sabor!" James yelled, jumping onto the table and making a hissing noise.

"What about smokey?" Remus asked, "she's certainly got the colour for it."

"Aaylah," Sirius suggested and Hermione felt a light bulb go off in her brain as her new cat's whiskers tickled the back of her neck.

"Sirius, that's genius," she said, and picked the cat up from around her shoulders, placing it on her lap. "Aaylah – Light Bearer."

"Okay, how do you even know that?" Remus asked and Hermione smiled brightly at him.

"Because I'm a genius," she threw back and Remus seemed to ponder her logic for a moment before nodding, accepting her answer. She couldn't help but notice that his skin looked pale and held a sick quality to it – it must be near the full moon.

For the rest of the evening, she found her thoughts ping-pong from Remus' unfortunate ailment, to Quinton's wife to her new cat, who was now curled up by the couch, watching the friends have a half-decent Christmas.

The time came for Sirius and the others to leave and Hermione walked with them to the doors of Hogwarts, her hand clasped loosely with Sirius'. When they got to the huge oak doors, James and Remus shoved a scrap of paper in his hands (which she knew to be the Marauders map) and they ran off, to the direction of the Whomping willow, although Hermione had her back to the doors, so they thought they were keeping it a secret.

Sirius chuckled and looked at her, raising one hand to her cheek and softly stroking the skin.

"Hermione-"

"Sirius-"

They spoke as one and Hermione giggled nervously which Sirius found endearing, his gaze falling to her lips.

"You go first," he offered.

"I'm sorry for running out on you earlier," she said almost awkwardly, scuffing the toes of her trainers against the stone floor.

"Don't mention it Hermione – You'll write and tell me how it went with Quinton's wife, right?" He asked and Hermione let her eyes wander to meet his.

"Sirius, I'll write you everyday," she whispered, coming closer to him. He lowered his head and placed a kiss on her forehead, temple, cheek, and jaw before falling in her lips for passionate little pecks that left her slightly breathless.

"Hermione," he half-groaned and rested his forehead against hers, "I hate leaving you," he admitted, playing with a lock of her brunette hair as she traced his collarbone with her finger.

"I'll see you in a week and a half – We'll be fine," she said slowly, not expecting this goodbye to be so hard, and she was at a loss to explain _why_ this hurt.

"I hope so," he said wistfully, letting his eyes take in her features, from her big expressive brown eyes, her slim nose, her plump lips – he engrained it into his memory.

He was being melodramatic, his thoughts whispered harshly to him and he supposed they were right, but this, that he was feeling, leaving her to save somebody's life and not see for a week and a half was painful, and he didn't know _why._

"Hermione," the name slipped off its tongue and he watched her gaze lock onto his. "Did you mean it – that you didn't know Olivia was going to die now?" He asked, and she blinked slowly.

"Of course I did, Sirius," normally, she would be angry that somebody had thought she was lying, but she knew that Sirius needed it – needed the confirmation that what happened to Olivia was, technically, inevitable. His grey eyes searched her own for any misconduct or traces if betrayal, but she let him see all, see that she wasn't lying and he breathed harshly through his nose.

"It still hurts, you know," he whispered and kissed her forehead, almost desperately, "please don't get yourself killed. I can't loose you as well."

Before she could answer he took off across the grounds after his comrades, transforming into Padfoot mid-run, dark hair sprouting from every pore of his body and his features changed into that of a dog, the Marauder's map slipped into his robe as he ran. She didn't spare a thought wondering where their clothes went when they turned back into humans, as the thought of a naked Sirius was almost too much to take at the minute, and she slowly turned around, making her way back to Gryffindor Common room, hoping that when the 1998 rolled around, Hailey would be there to see it.

31st December 1997

When Quinton woke the next morning, entangled tightly with his wife, he had a sense of foreboding – the knowledge that his wife, his achingly beautiful wife, could leave him today almost made him whimper and clutch her closer. She shifted in his grasp and opened her blue-green eyes slowly, glazed over with sleep.

"What is it, Quinton?" She mumbled, blinking hard, as if that would wake her up. He laughed slightly that almost turned into hysterical tears at the thought of her gone and he pulled her impossibly closer.

"Don't leave me," he said almost desperately, lightly kissing along her shoulder and up her neck, "please don't," Hailey frowned and framed his face, forcing him to look at her.

"I won't. I promise," she smiled, letting her lips rest on his forehead and let him rest his head against her chest, his arms encircling her waist almost painfully.

"Don't go into the Forbidden Forest today," he said against her skin.

"I have to," she said and Quinton felt desperation settle into his stomach, "what's wrong with going in there?" She asked stroking his brown hair. "Well, besides the obvious."

"Just—Please. Do it tomorrow, whatever you have to do, just not now, not today. Please, not today…" He was aware that he was rambling to himself and he stopped when he felt her fingers against his jaw.

"Okay, Quinton, if it means so much to you, I'll go tomorrow." She said, shrugging "no big deal. I promise."

* * *

Hermione was in the owlery, attaching the letter that she had written to Sirius to the leg of a Hogwarts owl, its brown feathers were soft to the touch and it stared at her with amber eyes.

"Hurry along now, okay?" She said, letting it rest on her forearm, it's claws digging lightly into her skin to maintain it's grip but not enough to hurt her. It blinked in understanding and when they reached the small window that enabled the owls to leave and come back it spread its wings and took off, leaving a small ripple of wind that lifted Hermione's unruly hair slightly off her shoulders. She sighed and watched the owl fly with her letter overt he treetops of the Forbidden forest and she hoped, not for the first time that day, that Quinton had successfully stopped Hailey from going in there today – if she had done, Hermione didn't know what to do, from the future Quinton, she hadn't received any details that would help them find her if she did go in.

Why did she even need to go in there in the first place? Hermione wondered, leaning her elbows on the window ledge, noting that the owl was just a tiny speck in the sky now that was awash with purples and reds as the sun set and Hermione thought again of how much she loved it here at Hogwarts, past or present despite the amount of stress she was under in both times. The majestic castle still had the effect of security to her and she felt free here, free to be herself. At her primary school, before she knew that witches and wizards even existed she had always been different – picked on by her peers who hated her intelligence, valued by the teachers who adored her intelligence when she was younger, but hated it when she was smart enough to correct them in class, never hung around with her friends – scratch that, she never had any friends. Even at Hogwarts for the first few months she had been friend-less, choosing instead to go to the library and learn as much as she could about magic, to make her fit in more.

But here, here she had gained friends instantly – the girls hadn't been like Lavender and Parvarti and didn't care that she wasn't beautiful or that she didn't read the girly magazine, the boys didn't care that she wasn't "hot" and befriended her anyways, lending a helping hand to her whenever necessary. Sirius hadn't cared that she was stand-offish and slightly bitchy with him – he liked her for who she was. Hermione sighed letting her fingers trace the cracks in the stone, her thoughts flitting briefly to Fabian, wondering how he was holding up with the loss of a twin – it was like trying to picture George without a Fred and Hermione found that she couldn't do it, that it was almost impossible – almost like George missing a part of himself, like an ear. He could still function with only one, but it would always be there, a constant reminder, never letting him forget and so painful. Despite the twin's constant barbs at her and teasing and just all round annoying her, she still loved them and felt a pang in her heart that she'd never really get to see them again.

She was about to turn away when she saw a figure hurry to the edges of the Forbidden Forest, the hood of their black robes were up and they were unidentifiable but Hermione knew who it was. Before any of the owls could blink, Hermione was halfway down the winding stairs, the wooden door banging against the stone wall sounding like a gunshot sending the owls into a flutter of wings.

She ran through the corridors, concentrating on the direction her legs were taking her in and her breathing, dually noting that she almost ran into Peter, Snape and a Ravenclaw third year, but she didn't have to apologize as she swerved around them, her mind focused solely on getting to Quinton, to tell him that she had seen Hailey go into the Forbidden Forest.

She got to his office in record time and slammed the door open, seeing Quinton at his desk, his face ashen white, his hands shaking but lacking the franticness and unease that he had held on Christmas.

"Hermione," he looked confused, his face twisting and turning, not at all happy by the fact that someone had just burst into his room, but really, he should be used to it by now. "What now?" He groaned and stood from his desk.

"I just saw someone go into the forest," Hermione gasped through her panted breath, putting her hand on the doorframe for support as she tried to calm her erratic heart down.

"It isn't Hailey," Quinton said, folding his arms across his chest, "she's in our bedroom, asleep." As if to prove his point, he moved to the winding staircase behind his classroom and went up them two at a time, his hand firmly on the banister as he ascended them, a determined look on his young face.

Hermione, still leaning against the doorframe, heard hurried steps directly above her, a rustling, a deep voice and then a gasp of horror and she knew that Hailey wasn't there.

Before _she_ had time to blink, Quinton was beside her again, wand in hand and cloak thrown over his shoulder.

"We have to go," he told her tersely and grabbed her arm rather roughly, yanking her in the direction of the entrance to the castle.

"Wait – Quinton, where are you going?" Hermione asked, digging her heels into the floor trying to stop him, but she soon discovered it was no use, "Quinton, we need help on this! We can't do this by ourselves we need to talk to somebody – Dumbledore, McGonagall, anybody!" Her voice rose in pitch as she tried to convince him, but he didn't stop.

"We don't have time! By the time we do that, Hailey might already be-" He closed his eyes tightly before shaking his head. "No, you saw her go in, we know she'll be there-ish – we can get to her quicker." As soon as they left the castle, Quinton took off at a run, dragging Hermione behind him, forcing her to keep up with him. Used to running throughout her Hogwarts days, she had no trouble keeping up and nearly surpassed him once.

They broke through the line of tree's on the outskirts were Hailey had gone in not twenty minutes before and Hermione could still see the sky, the sun shining through the leaves, creating a beautiful light. But her mind wasn't on that right now, her wand clasped in her hand, her brown eyes darting along as her and Quinton crept foreword, going excruciatingly slow, but not wanting to do something to alert whatever was going to hurt Hailey that someone else was here.

Beside her, Quinton was twitching, the muscle in his jaw jumping as he clenched it tight, fighting the overwhelming need in him to run and find her, but he knew that frantically looking would make him miss something obvious and they wouldn't find her.

Above them, the sun finally slid back down over the horizon and plunged Hogwarts into darkness, making it impossible to see what was right in front of them.

"_Lumos,"_ Quinton hissed under his breath and Hermione could feel his tension and wariness, and it passed onto her to – she could feel a cold sweat break out at the small of her back.

They came to a clearing, narrowly avoiding stepping on twigs and breathing heavily. The floor was free of bits of debris; instead it was soft dirt that seemed lighter. The tree's over head blocked out the light and sun (which had most probably set by now), but the leaves were a deep, light green and they were purple flowers growing along the outskirts. Hermione raised her eyebrows at the flowers before she realised that centre which held the pollen instead had the face of a sleeping baby. The middle of the clearing was empty, but somebody had dragged logs there to sit on as makeshift seats and in the very centre to create a fire. The logs there were blackened as the flames had taken their toll upon them, marring them.

"What on Earth-" She began before a blood-curdling scream echoed throughout the tree's around them and Quinton didn't even think before taking off in that direction, trying to get to his wife, desperately seeking her out. Hermione followed after him, tension weaving through her, like a spider-web, creating a shield of fear around her heart.

They saw her, laid facedown in the dirt, her long dark hair pooled about her head. Quinton rushed there instantly and Hermione stopped in her tracks. _Was she dead?_

She heard something to the right and turned her head in that direction, blocking out Quinton's slightly frantic babbles to hear the definite _snap_ of twigs breaking as someone stepped on them.

Without pausing to think, she ran in that direction, hopping over stones and tree roots, following what was now a shadow – vaguely, a voice in her brain was telling her that this was so very stupid, but she kept going, needing to see who it was, to punish them. _Was she dead? _

She found that she was gaining on him, which she didn't particularly expect and she could now clearly see that it was a man, breathing harshly as he ran as fast as he could, his arms pumping in a steady rhythm.

"Stop!" She half-yelled, not expecting him to follow her order and she very almost ran into the broad back as he stopped instantaneously. "Turn around," she said hesitantly, holding her wand aloft in front of her. She had no problem hexing Death Eaters when there was somebody else there, but doing it herself was very scary.

The figure did so and Hermione caught a glimpse of fluffy blonde hair and brown eyes with a crazy, intense look before a stunning curse was sent her way and she should have known that they crazy man would fight rather then run and get caught. She expertly dodged it, spinning and her back slammed into a tree, hiding the man from view.

Matt Corbin. She remembered him vividly from her first Defence Against the Dark Arts class of the year and the feeling of hatred deep in the pit of her stomach. The wizard had switched alliances during the war and it seemed that he had already had his turning point.

A spell flew right by her head and took a large chunk of the tree away, bark flying in every direction and she covered her arm with her arm. _Was she dead? _

"Well," she heard and footsteps as they neared the tree, "I expect you want to get revenge for Hailey Timble no doubt, but, Miss Kingsley, but, really, would it be worth it?" A purple spell grazed her ear and she had to fight the urge to yell in pain. She quickly moved to another tree, hoping to be undetected from Corbin. "Of course it isn't – she sold you out!" He roared manically and Hermione felt curiosity swell in her…What was he talking about?

He giggled gleefully, inhumanly and clapped his hands in almost delight. "Oh, this is priceless! That idiot husband of hers thought she was loyal, oh no, no, no, no, no…" He muttered, crouching down, his ears listening for any indication of where she was, knowing that she had moved her previous position. "You see, Hailey is, hmm, how can I put this…Evil. Yes, that's a nice description." Hermione closed her eyes, not wanting to listen to this anymore, knowing it was just a rouse to annoy her, to get her angry, to—

"You're from the future," he said coldly and Hermione let out a gasp that gave her away instantly and a spell hacked into the top of the tree, cutting clean through it, missing her head by mere inches.

"How do you know that?" She couldn't help ask, her wand held so tight in her grip that her knuckles were slowly turning white.

"Hailey Timble, my dear. We got her to get the oaf Quinton to fall in love with her, marry her – did you know that he was a skilled in Occulmancy? Did you also know that if given the right ingredient, he'll spill all his secrets in his sleep?" He said mockingly and Hermione slid down the trunk of the tree.

"Why did you kill her then?" Thanks to the slight echoing of the dense forest, Hermione thought wryly, Corbin wasn't sure if she'd moved again, or if she was still by that tree.

"Because, she was feeling _guilty._" He scoffed and Hermione decided not to chance it, duck-walking to a different tree, ducking beneath an overhanging branch, the bark scratching against her skin, causing it to sting and her eyes to water. "Guilty I tell you! It is absolutely ridiculous! She's like a ducks quack when it echo's – it doesn't happen!" This man was very clearly insane, Hermione thought and before she could take her chance to jinx him, red sparks flew up into the air, alerting others to their presence and Matt scurried back like a frightened dog. "You know, Kingsley, that you are now on Voldemort's most wanted list…You see, you're the only one who can stop him, and we can't have that, can we?" He snarled, "oh, how I wish it could be me who uttered the words and strike you down, but not today, Buttercup," he turned and ran, his threat left hanging in the air, making the hairs on Hermione's arm raise and her heart sink lower.

This just complicated things so much.

A cry echoed around her, sounding like a wounded animal and Hermione shakily stood and went back to where Hailey and Quinton were.

Quinton was holding Hailey close, his face buried in the crook of his neck as he sobbed, clutching desperately at her trying to bring her closer. Her blue-green eyes were wide open, staring at the overhanging braches which were blocking her last view of the stars, her dark hair pooling over Quinton's arm as he cried for her. There was a rumbling up ahead and Hermione instantly went on alert, not knowing whether or not she could take anymore with such a heavy heart, feeling the sting of betrayal when a very large man, with a straggly beard appeared, holding a crossbow in hands the size of dustbins, a four year old black dog by his side, snarling.

Hagrid. He must have been alerted by the red sparks.

Hermione felt relief wash over and, before she could stop herself, she launched at him, wrapping her tiny arms around his big stomach, fear at Matt Corbin's words settling in and Quinton's broken cries beside her as he threw his head back and screamed to the night sky, veins in the side of his neck were strained before he broke back into sobs again, crouching over her body.

"You broke your promise," he said, brokenly, stroking one long pale finger over Hailey's porcelain cheek. "You broke you're promise."

_A/N: Hello! I forgot all about Hagrid! How stupid of me! After this, Hagrid is going to have a strong friendship with Hermione, like in the books. So, did you liek this chapter? I know it starts off a bit...Meh, but by the end it gets better. _

_Since the beginning I had planned for Hailey to be agaisnt them, but she isn't an actual Death Eater, she was just on there side. I hope you liked it and I hope that it comes across well and you dont hate me to much for killing another character off, although in all fairness, she wasn't that main of a character, but it will greatly effect Quinton. _

_An annoymous review wondered about Sirius' reaction to Hermione telling him that she knew Olivia was going to die and I was going to have him angry and just all round furious with her, but I couldn't do it. I got to writing it and it felt wrong - Sirius would accept that Hermione didnt know when. In fact, there's a secret there..._

_Anyways, enough with the mysteriousness...I hope you like this chapter!_

_Kelly_

_xxx_


	32. Dumbledore finds out

**Disclaimer: **_Not mine :(_

**Weight of the World**

**Chapter 32**

Hermione sat in Professor Dumbledore's office, picking at the desk as Dumbledore paced behind her, muttering under his breath and tugging on his long beard. Beside her, Quinton was sat with his head in his hands; his shoulders were shaking with unrepressed sobs. Hermione felt her heart go out to the man, he tried to keep Hailey safe, but in the end, she had died, taking Quinton's last shred of sanity with her and Hermione was heavy with the knowledge that she knew Hailey's secret and the decision of whether or not to tell Quinton was a dead weight on her shoulders.

"I am…Severely disappointed, Professor Timble." Dumbledore started and Hermione looked up at the headmaster with confusion and horror – disappointed? His wife had just died! "You took a student into the Forbidden Forest, something which, as the name suggests, they are forbidden to do," Dumbledore moved around the other side of the desk and lowered himself into his majestic throne of his chair, his long fingers gripping the golden armrests. "That being said, it is understandable why you chose to do so. I am so sorry for your loss, Quinton," he said kindly and Quinton looked up, his blue eyes shining, tear marks staining his cheeks.

"Sorry?" He croaked and breathed out heavily, hanging his head.

"If you wish, you can take a leave of absence – take a few months off to get your bearings back, if you want?" Dumbledore offered and Quinton hung his head, bending at the waist and linking his hands behind his head, keeping it down. Everything about him was broken now and Hermione was seriously considering adding more cracks to his already shattered heart – but he had a right to know, right? Why Hailey had died, I mean, he must have known that she had been killed with the killing curse – or was he to distraught to have noticed?

"I—I don't know, Professor. I just—I don't know." Dumbledore nodded and stood swiftly, coming to Quinton's side and placing his hand solidly on his shoulder.

"I'll let you think about it, but at least take two weeks off – your wages won't be affected." Quinton stood on shaky legs, and leaned on Dumbledore for a moment, who leant his strength to the young professor before Quinton pulled away, moving shakily to the staircase and Hermione can imagine the tears pouring out of his eyes. The door closed behind him with a bang and an uncomfortable, awkward silence settled over the occupants in the room as Fawkes sang from his golden perch at the edge of the circular room and Dumbledore went over to stroke his flame feathers.

When Hermione, Quinton and Hagrid came out of the Forbidden Forest, Dumbledore was waiting at the edge, a look of annoyance and sadness in his blue eyes as he looked at the body of Hailey, cradled in Quinton's arms, who was, in turn, being supported by Hagrid's giant arms. He had taken one look at them before walking silently ahead of them, leading the way to the Hospital wing, giving Hermione the uneasy feeling that she was being led to her death.

Now, she was sat in the Head Master's office, knowing that the time had come.

"Is there something that you'd like to tell me, Miss Kingsley?" He asked from where he stood with his back to her and Hermione appreciated it – she actually found it easier to talk when he wasn't looking at her with his ice-blue eyes, as if he could see right through her and tell all her secrets.

She took a deep breath and launched into her tale, telling him all about the potions accident with Ron in 1996, reading about Ester the time-travelling witch, travelling between her bodies and saving Fabian.

"Well…That, Miss Kingsley, is quite a tale." He said pensively, tapping his fingers on Fawkes perch before turning to face her, his dark purple robes swishing about his ankles. "Who else, besides Quinton and myself, of course, knows about you?"

"Sirius and Severus—"

"I suggest that you don't tell anyone else," Dumbledore said, dropping into his seat again, leaning foreword.

"But sir, I need to tell you something," Dumbledore must have sensed the urgency in her voice and he raised an eyebrow, urging her to continue. "You see, Hailey knew as well, she was a Death Eater supporter and was married off to Quinton because of his skills with Occulmency – she'd been going to the Forbidden Forest to relay messages to the Death Eaters after she gave Quinton a potion, which sir I suspect is the _Dicere_ potion which is a form of the _Veriteserum_ potion and it makes him spill his secrets when he's asleep – Matt Corbin, who is a Death Eater, killed Hailey and attacked me in the forest and, as it turns out, Voldemort knows about me and now wants me dead." She explained it as fast as she could and without looking at him, feeling as if she had betrayed his trust.

If he was shocked with what was being said, he didn't show it, instead he merely stroked his beard, which wasn't yet long enough to tuck into his belt yet and gazed over his glasses at his Phoenix.

"Yes, that is quite a conundrum, I must admit. But do not worry, Hermione. While you are on Hogwarts grounds, they cannot get to you, so I suggest that you do not leave." Although it was in actual fact, a suggestion, Hermione clearly heard the implications that it was an order, and not one to be taken lightly. "Your Hogsmeade rights will not be taken away, but I do not suggest you use them. Now, go to bed, Miss Kingsley, I suspect Miss Jones and Mr Pettigrew will be worried. We will talk more in-depth about this tomorrow. I will not probe you for answers of what or will not happen, but I am free to talk to if you need it. Lemon drop?" He offered, lifting the bowl of sweets and Hermione blinked at the sudden change of conversation.

"Er…No, sir. I have to go and tell Quinton about Hailey—"

"No, you don't." Dumbledore said calmly, placing the bowl of sweets back down and standing up again, his hands on the dark oak table.

"But professor, he needs to know!" Hermione said aghast.

"Not right now he doesn't. Hermione, he just looked into his dead wife's eyes. He wouldn't likely believe you anyway and even if he did he'd defend her – you won't win in this situation, Hermione. Just let him rest, then we'll talk about it." Hermione let out a breath and closed her eyes – he was right.

"Okay," she said quietly, slipping to the door, "I think I'll go to Gryffindor common room."

"Not to bed?"

"No professor. I don't think I'd be able to sleep in all honesty." She smiled lightly, forcedly, over her shoulder at him before a thought popped into her head. "Professor, Quinton is skilled in occulmency—why couldn't he tell that Hailey was evil?" She turned to watch her headmaster as he drummed his fingers on top of the table, a thoughtful gaze in his blue eyes.

"Very few wizards have managed to put up a shield for occulmency: I myself have done, so has Severus Snape, which is incredible, given his age. Many Death Eaters also possess the skill, and I assume that Hailey could – perhaps this was why she was chosen to marry him." He offered as ways of explanation and it all made sense to Hermione. Not many wizards were able to stop someone entering there mind, and some, like Harry, where hopeless at it. With a final smile at her professor, she opened the door and walked down the stairs. She began the long trek to the common room, her thoughts a whirlwind, proof that sleep wasn't coming to her tonight, then she walked into someone hard and bits of paper and books were strewn all over the floor.

"Oh, that's just perfect. Thanks ever so much, Kingsley," the familiar voice was dripping with sarcasm and resentment and Hermione knew who it was.

"Well, Snape, you were the one who walked into me! It's not my fault if you can't see past the end of your crooked nose!" She snapped and Snape merely looked at her, his eyebrow raised. She realised at once how insulting she was being and she chalked it up to the effect of the night's events. "Sorry," she said quietly, kneeling down to collect some of the papers around her.

"Way to bite my head off," he said and dropped down beside her, joining her in the task. Hermione was pleasantly surprised that he helped her, but then again, it was his work.

Hermione spied a black, leather bound book and dragged it towards her, her eyes about to scan the title but it was roughly taken out of her hands.

"I don't get it," she said quietly, shuffling some papers together that were potions essays, "every time I see you, you always have a muggle book in your hand." Beside her, she felt Snape stiffen before he seemingly brushed it off and shrugged, pushing his hair back with his arm.

His left arm. The sleeves of his white Shirt had been rolled up to his elbows and his pale forearm was staring at her.

Completely unmarked.

"What?" He snapped and stood, taking out his wand and making his work hover instead, "you think that every single Slytherin has one of them? You're wrong. Just because we're sorted into Slytherin it doesn't make us evil, it doesn't make us prejudiced. It's a common misconception that I am tired of." He said, sparks shooting out of the end of his wand, snaking to the cold stone floor, but Hermione suspected it was more out of annoyance then anger.

"No, it's just – in the future, you're a suspected Death Eater –"

"Have you seen my mark?" He asked and Hermione shook her head.

"No, but you were once a Death Eater, but you changed alliances before the end of the first war." She said, running a hand through her own brown locks.

"Oh reall—First war?"

"Ooooh! Kiddie Winks are out of bed! Kiddie winks are out of bed!" The taunts above them from Peeves, who had just magically appeared, were like a siren and before Hermione could do anything, Severus had grabbed her by the back of her jacket and hefted her up, pulling her along the corridor, Peeves shouts growing in volume, alerting Finch by now about their whereabouts – Hermione had also impressed to see, when she first saw them in September shuffling past her, that Mrs Norris was roaming the halls with her master, though she looked significantly younger.

She didn't like the feeling of being manhandled and attempted to turn to shout at him, or at least demand that he let her go, but his grip on her stopped her from turning and she was forced to run backwards with him, something that she found she rather didn't enjoy, the books and essays were floating along behind her and Hermione spied two more Muggle Novels in the pile.

"Get in!" She was roughly pushed past a tapestry of a water nymph before she was joined by Snape, who leaned against the stone wall of the tunnel that she found herself in. It was one that she vaguely recognized as having used at least once in her time at Hogwarts, but her memory was fuzzy as to where it leads to.

They held there breath as the pitter-patter of feet shuffled by, and the tiny noise of the claws of cats paws hitting stone clacked by before they felt it fine to let out a breath.

"Come on, this will lead us to the—"

"Fourth Floor!" Hermione exclaimed, rather quietly, proud of herself for finally remembering where the tunnel led to.

"Yeah," he said, an eyebrow rose on his slightly arrogant face, "you're slightly eccentric, aren't you?"

She felt herself bristle at the slight insult and was about to open her mouth to retort, but he beat her to it. "Don't worry, I expect that trip from the future jostled a few brain cells." He shrugged and Hermione's eyes narrowed at him.

"This isn't a game, Snape. I hate that you found out, but you did and you know and you can not use it against me anymore! Besides, Sirius already knows now." Beside her, Snape stopped and stared at her.

"I forgot you were going out with that…mutt," he said darkly, frowning as he looked at the stone floor. "You're pretty close to them, right? The other Gryffindor's?" He asked and Hermione was shocked at how…vulnerable he looked in that moment.

"Uh-huh…" She answered hesitantly, not sure where exactly this was going. Her brain was starting to get cloudy and she just wanted to curl up with Sirius on the couch and watch bad day-time TV…Obviously she couldn't because A) Sirius wasn't here, B) There was no TV in Hogwarts as electrical appliances couldn't work with all the magic in the air and C) she was slightly traumatized now, so would probably just cry all over him.

"How…How's Lily?" He asked, pulling at the collar of his shirt and Hermione's eyebrows rose at the question and thought back to when she last saw Lily, laughing at a joke James had just told, her arm about his waist and his thrown casually over her shoulder as he laughed softly into her hair before dropping a kiss on her nose.

"Yeah, she's good," Hermione answered truthfully, "her and James are still going strong," she shrugged.

"Yeah, the arrogant toe-rag that she swore she'd never go out with," he spat harshly.

"Is that—Are you jealous?" Hermione found the idea totally ridiculous and almost couldn't stop the bubble of laughter fighting its way to her vocal chords.

"Why would I be jealous of-of _that?" _He stalked up the passage again and Hermione noticed that he was wearing muggle jeans – what the hell had happened to Snape between now and…well, then? Hermione sighed as she realised it was just another mystery to solve and she watched as he strode to the end of the passage, making a sharp right and heading back to what Hermione assumed was the Slytherin common room, his books floating along obediently behind him.

* * *

The next day found Hermione sat in Dumbledore's office again, staring at a golden object on his desk that resembled an eyelash curler with a torture device.

"I suppose we should start at the beginning, I always find that that is the best place to start," he said kindly, smiling at her. "When were you actually born?"

"September 19th 1979." She answered glumly, looking down at her hands which were folded in her lap.

"And you're here now because of a potion?" He asked to clarify and Hermione nodded.

"Yeah, a lock of my hair fell into a potion my friend was making, it exploded, sent me back in time," she said absently, twirling the bracelet Sirius had given her for Christmas around her wrist. Sirius had sent her a letter this morning, wishing a happy new year and asking her how last night went. She hadn't replied yet. She didn't want him to worry and she'd see him in two days – but it felt so far away. She leaned her head back against the chair and stared at the ceiling, which she realised was charmed to have wisps of clouds float over it across a bright blue sky – but outside was actually grey and snowy.

"So, you basically know everything up to 1997?" He asked, sounding slightly impressed and Hermione nodded, not tearing her gaze from the ceiling. "How do you hope to defeat Voldemort? Even if you prevent deaths, it won't stop him, you know." He said gently and Hermione nodded.

"He split his soul into seven pieces and hid them in different objects, so that, you know, if his body dies, he'll still live on. Well, if you can destroy the Horcruxes, that's what they're called, you can destroy Voldemort." She was so tired, she realised numbly, so weary. What was she supposed to do now? Voldemort wanted her and Regulus was planning something and Snape was being so elusive – Hailey had turned out to be evil, so who else in this school was a backstabber? Hermione didn't like her train of thought and let out a slightly frustrated huff.

"I can see why Voldemort wants you dead – you're a great asset to us. Why, you will change the outcome of this whole thing," he said brightly, his fingers lightly touching his tall bright yellow wizarding hat and tilting it foreword slightly, so it sat better upon his head of full silver hairs.

"That's what I'm hoping – I just didn't know it'd be so painful," she said quietly, resting one of her hands over her eyes. She was definitely getting a headache.

"Painful? How so?" He asked, "you had no personal connection to Mrs Timble that I know of –"

"I failed again," Hermione cut him off and slowly lifted her head foreword, which felt so heavy. "Out of four people so far, I've saved one, and he's probably just a shell of himself without his twin brother and I don't know how to prevent these deaths. I knew Olivia was going to die, I could have warned her, I could have done something." She was so frustrated and the pressure was beginning to build up behind her eyes and she clamped her eyes shut against the onslaught of light as the clouds outside parted and let the sun shine through.

"Miss Kingsley – Hermione – you can't save everybody," he said sincerely, regret in his voice. "This is too much for an eighteen year old to handle and I'm sorry that you're in this predicament."

Hermione held back a sob and, before she knew what was happening, her vision doubled and she could hear a voice behind her, in front of her, beside her. She was laid flat and she in a stark white room, with a presence beside her. Not again…She thought…Not again…

"_Hey Hermione," Harry said, running his hand through his hair with a frustrated huff, much like the one she had uttered earlier on. "We made a breakthrough on the Horcruxes – we reckon that, because he loved Hogwarts, one _has _to be there. It has to be. We also think that he's put three pieces in things that represent the Hogwarts houses, you know like Gryffindor's sword? Except it won't be in there, obviously. We have the ring, the diary and that's it so far. God, Hermione, I wish you were here." He leaned foreword and took her hand, stroking his thumbs across her knuckles, the weight of his hand in hers was so comforting. He needed her, he needed her, she chanted in her head. "Here, I got you another one. I don't quite know where they go, because you can't eat them and Ron's lost his appetite since you – well." He smiled sheepishly and produced a chocolate frog, placing it on her bedside table. "For you. You know, so you know that I'm still here waiting for you. I don't really know why," he smiled and stood, leaning over and placing a kiss on her forehead, his breath a steady rhythm against her skin until he pulled back, placing his hand on her cheek. "Wake up soon, Hermione. Please…"_

Hermione blinked and found herself still sat in Professor Dumbledore's office, who was staring at her strangely.

"I went foreword again. It's a lot less painful then it used to be – it was disorientating as well, I had no clue what was going on, but it's happening much more frequently now and I don't—" she stopped mid-sentence, her eyes spying something out the corner of her eyes. A chocolate frog was on the floor by her chair. "Harry," she breathed, pleased that she finally knew where the secret of the Chocolate frogs had been answered, but frustrated beyond belief because this just opened more questions for her. How where they getting here? How…

The diary. A thought popped up into her head and she sat straight up. The diary…Tom Marvolo Riddle's diary…A black, leather bound book…

"I know where one of Voldemort's Horcruxes is."

_A/N: I hope that the explanation at the beginning, while rushed, explained Hailey's betrayal in a bit more detail for those readers who were slightly confused by it – of not, I am so sorry. _

_I was supposed to have this chapter up yesterday, but I was out all the day before so didn't get a chance to write – but I am the master of cluedo! I know, I'm sad. _

_I hope you liked this chapter and it's starting to come together now. We're no-were near the end, but we're slowly getting there. _

_Thanks for reading :D_

_Kelly_

_xxx _


	33. Complications and a present

**Disclaimer: **_I do not own the amazing Harry Potter series, no matter how hard I wish for it – although, I wouldn't mind forking out for the rights over Sirius ;)_

**Weight of the World**

**Chapter 33**

Hermione knew where he'd be – if he wasn't here he'd be in the common rooms – they were the only two places that he frequented. She pushed open the heavy doors and, ignoring the incredulous look that Madame Pince shot her, she made her way over to her table, where the black-haired Slytherin was sat, his quill scratching against the parchment in front of him, his black eyes darting to the open text book in front of him.

She almost ran over and yanked out the chair beside him, ignoring his startled glance as she pushed his work away from him and urgently said, "Snape, where's that black book you had yesterday? The leather bound one?"

"What's it to you, Kingsley?" He snarled and Hermione saw the moment that the defensive walls came up.

"I need to see it," he raised one eyebrow and stared at her as if she wasn't quite real and she growled low in her throat. "Listen, that diary is very important to Voldemort's downfall—"

"Kingsley, it's a diary." He said as if he was talking to a three year old and Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, I know what it is –"

"So how is it, in anyway, beneficial to Voldemort's downfall?" He had placed his quill down on the table and had turned his chair slightly to face her, leaning towards her into her personal space.

"It doesn't matter how, all you have to know is that it is," she refused to give him any more details about her situation, but she could see that he wasn't going to budge. "It's a piece of Voldemort's soul," she said hesitantly, "there's another six out there and I need to collect them all before 31st October 1981 and destroy them so that Voldemort can be killed." Snape blinked at her and she realised that she hadn't actually ever been this close to him before. He wasn't as greasy as he was in her time, and his hair had clearly been washed, resembling Sirius' somewhat, but more controlled. His eyes were black and dark and seemed endless, and not in a good way, she pondered, but they held a spark that would soon leave him as the years went by. "Wait, you haven't been writing in it, have you?" Snape's eyes widened and Hermione let her head fall foreword until it banged on the desk, earning herself a sharp 'hush!' from the librarian.

"It's a diary, Kingsley, what do you expect me to do?" He hissed and Hermione felt a headache build up behind her eyelids.

"Did you not find it strange when the ink disappeared when you started writing and then it started talking back?" She asked, remembering the tales that both Ginny and Harry had told her. "Did it also take you in a magical adventure to the past?"

"Sarcasm doesn't become you, Hermione," he snapped, but he didn't deny any of what she said and she sighed.

"Let me guess, you pour your heart and soul out to the diary and it responds back, giving you nasty thoughts – I bet you're one of the next students in the school in line for a Dark Mark, right?" He opened his mouth to retort, but she carried on regardless, "you're talking to a memory and it's manipulating you – no wonder you're so cold and heartless in the future, your mind had been warped by the diary! Severus, I need it. Now. Snape, it could possess you!" He simply stared at her before bowing his head and Hermione had to strain her ears to catch his words.

"I'm not becoming a Death Eater for the reason's that you think," he said quietly, "you don't know everything, it seems." He stood and collected his work, sorting them out and picking up his bag, shoving his work in there before reaching in and pulling out a small, black, leather bound book, dropping it on the table with a bang. "Do what you want with it – but do not presume to know my intentions again," he walked off without another word and Hermione glared at the book as if it offended her, the golden font across the front mocking her: Property of Tom Marvolo Riddle

* * *

She got to the gargoyle that sat in front of Dumbledore's office and uttered the password to it, slightly annoyed that she knew what it actually was and climbed up the winding staircase, the diary secured safely in her inside jacket pocket, and she could practically feel the evil burning away. She knocked on the door and was slightly surprised to see Quinton open the door, looking worse for wear with bags under his eyes, stubble across his jaw and his hair unkempt. But then again, she'd probably be in the same position if the person that she loved beyond all else had died. A picture of Sirius popped up in her head and she quickly trampled down the picture, confused as to why she would appear and why her heart suddenly heart slightly.

"Hermione," he said sadly and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her in for a close, and unexpected hug. She returned his hug – they had become such firm friends during her time here, but she wasn't quite sure how to deal with his pain, she hadn't known Hailey very well.

"I'm sorry," she whispered instead and Quinton's grip tightened slightly before he pulled away and grasped her forearms.

"Don't be sorry, Hermione," he said it with such conviction that Hermione couldn't help but think of Moody – they spoke the same.

"I failed." She admitted again, hanging her head.

"No, you warned me." Quinton smiled at her and brought her head up so she was looking in his blue eyes. "I'll be gone for two weeks – if you need me, write, okay? I'll come back."

"Quinton, you just lost your wife. You don't need to come back –"

"This, Hermione, this is bigger then just me. It hurts, and it will for a very long time, but I'll get over it. I'll have to," a tear slid down his face and he smiled before standing again and walking behind her to the door. "Stay safe, Miss Granger." And with a wave he was gone, heading back to his room to face to prospect of packing and leaving for a while.

"Professor Kettleburn has offered to take over as he doesn't have that much work to do, but I think it's best if Professor Daniels takes over for a while, don't you?" He asked and Hermione's mind went to the Divination teacher, who was very beautiful with white hair contrasting against her Japanese complexion. She nodded absently and collapsed in what was now becoming her own chair. She got the diary and threw it on Dumbledore's desk and he didn't hesitate at all in examining it.

He flipped through it, noting the dates that were written at the top of the page, but the pages themselves remain blank. "This is a piece of Voldemort's soul?" He asked, flicking the pages quickly from cover to cover. "In all honesty, it doesn't look like it'd do too much damage," he said under his breath and Hermione's mind flashed to the time that she spent petrified in her second year.

"Trust me, sir. It can. It can possess you and control you if you get to close to it, and I don't just mean touching it – it's a diary, and you pour you heart out into it. The more knowledge it gains of you, the piece of soul can then flit between the person and the object, possessing you." She told him, finding it odd that she was giving the all knowing Dumbledore answers.

"Do all Horcruxes do this?" He asked, his voice taking on an amazed tone that fascinated Hermione.

"I'm not sure, but I don't think so. This horcrux is based more on a memory then a piece of soul. It's used to set free the basilisk in 1992-93. You know, the one that killed Moaning Myrtle, I also suspect that she's the death that ripped his soul." She supplied, her eyes scanning the spines of the books in his huge golden bookcase, noticing that the Dark Arts books she had summoned from his office after his death were not there.

"How does one even make a horcrux?" He said, like he was a kid in a candy store and Hermione couldn't help but smile at his questioning.

"You murder. But not just randomly murder, it has to be with a purpose and I think a spell is said at some point." She stood and ran her hand along the books, wishing that she could read some of the titles, but knowing that it was rude and impractical to ask.

"So, how do you destroy it?" He asked, leaning back in his chair.

"We can't." She regretted to say, "Not yet anyway. You see, in my time, the sword of Gryffindor can destroy a Horcrux, but only because when Harry stabbed the Basilisk in his second year, the sword was impregnated with Basilisk venom, which is one of the only foolproof ways of destroying a Horcrux." She informed him, collapsing back into her seat. "The killing curse won't work on inanimate objects and Fiendfyre is much too risky to use." She sighed and thought of her current situation – they wasn't anything that could be done.

"I'm sure they'll be another way of destroying one," Dumbledore muttered, fingering the book in front of him, "it can't be hopeless."

"Wanna bet?" Hermione was seriously beginning to wish that she was back home now, but the thought of leaving Sirius made her blood freeze.

"I'm sure that somebody somewhere will have a Basilisk fang – I mean, the one underneath the school isn't the only one in the world." He stood and brushed his robes down, picking up the diary and throwing it into a draw in his desk, slamming it shut. "I suggest you go and write that letter to Mr. Black now." His eyes twinkled knowingly over his half-moon glasses and Hermione smiled at him, standing.

"I think I'll take that advice."

* * *

Sirius was still asleep when the door to his room burst open, startling him awake. His headache drummed behind his eyes and he quickly brought up a hand against the onslaught of light as Harold Potter sauntered into the room, humming to himself.

"Wake up, son! It's half past two!" He said, chuckling when Sirius' eyes narrowed. "Well, this is what you get when you get drunk. Sirius, I thought you were smart." Sirius groaned and laid back down, rolling over and pulling the quilt up and over his head, effectively blocking out Harold's booming voice. He, James and Remus had met up last night and, with a stolen hoard of Fire Whisky, had toasted the new year, not really thinking about how much alcohol they were consuming until they were seeing double and could barely stand. Remus had crashed at the Potter household last night and was in James' room.

"Don't make me whip the quilt off you, boy! It's as cold as an Eskimo's ass in here!" Harold chuckled and Sirius defiantly refused to budge. "Okay, fair enough…" The bright lights assaulted Sirius once more and a chill breezed across his skin, goose bumps instantly appearing as his hair rose. He groaned and curled further into himself, brining his knees up to his chest, hugging himself. His headache was getting slightly worse and he sighed, reluctantly squinting his eyes open. "Come on, Sirius, there's a letter downstairs on the table for you and the writing on the front looks rather girl to me," Harold said teasingly and was amused when Sirius sat up immediately, cradling his head in his hands.

"Why did you say so sooner?" He asked, almost accusingly and Harold laughed. Sirius grabbed some jeans and shoved them on, not really paying attention and deciding to leave his white wife-beater on.

Upon entering the kitchen, he saw that Rachel was in the kitchen, humming to herself as she bustled from one side of the room to the other, her long auburn hair pulled up at the back of her neck and she had a white apron on, a bottle of pepper-up potion sticking out the front pocket.

"Morning, Rach." He said cheekily and she absently waved at him over her shoulder, flicking her wand and Sirius watched as the fridge door opened and bacon sailed out. "Oh, no, the thought of food right now is making me feel sick." He told her, reaching out for the letter that was so obviously from Hermione.

"Good thing it isn't for you, then," she smiled and Sirius grinned, ripping the flap of the envelope and yanking out the letter. He needed to know what had happened.

_Sirius, _

_Hope you didn't get to drunk last night – and don't try telling me that you didn't, because I know you. _Sirius couldn't help but chuckle under his breath at this and scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. _Bad news – Hailey didn't make it. Good news – Dumbledore knows now and we have one Horcrux. More bad news – We don't have a way to destroy them without burning the castle down. More news, but it'll have to wait till you get back; it's to complicated to write down. _

_How is everyone? In fact, how was your new year? _

_Write soon. Miss you. _

_Hermione xx_

Sirius let out a breath at her words – Hailey didn't make it? He felt a wave of remorse for his Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. It seemed lately that everybody was dying and he shuddered to think who could be next.

Just as his thought trailed off, Remus and James shuffled in, hiding yawns and rubbing their eyes, trying to get accustomed to the bright light on their sensitive eyes.

"Dad, I don't get why you have to wake us up! I have a massive headache and my eyes don't quite work right," he complained.

Beside him, Remus chuckled collapsing into the chair opposite Sirius, "you might wanna try putting your glasses on there mate. Morning, Sirius. Ahh, I see you have a letter from Hermione – what's happening with our dear friends at Hogwarts?" He asked, thanking Rachel profoundly for the bacon that was placed in front of him – as it was close to the full moon, he was more partial to red meat and the Potters accepted that. They were a kind and loving pair and Sirius held the utmost respect for them.

"Not so good – Hailey died." He said regretfully. Hailey had never been his main teacher, just a sub if Quinton was tired or what-not, and she worked mostly with the younger students, but he still felt sad that she was dead, and felt even more sorry for Quinton. The thought of loosing the one person that he loved more then anything – a picture of Hermione flashed before him and he frowned in shock…That couldn't be right…Could it?

"What? How?" James asked, staring intently at him, his glasses now over his hazel eyes, his hand drifting up to card through his black hair.

"I don't know. She was found in the Forbidden Forest last night."

"That's awful. Poor Quinton, I feel sorry for him – I mean, he lost his wife. Bets are he's not coming back to Hogwarts." Remus said, cutting into his bacon, but Sirius could sense that Remus had long last his appetite.

"I'm gonna go reply to Hermione," Sirius said, standing and making his way back to the stairs to his room, leaving behind a atmosphere of sadness of slight grief upon hearing the loss of a teacher.

"Well, there goes a boy in love," Rachel said from her place leaning against the work top, her hands clutching the surface on either side of her body, almost as if she were going to hoist herself up.

"Don't be ridiculous mum, they've only been going out for like, two months," James said, sipping his pepper-up potion.

"What's your point?" She asked, raising her delicately plucked eyebrows and James opened his mouth to retort, but Harold got there first.

"You can see it, son. He's like you with Lily, only less soppy-looking," James shot him a look of offence, but Harold brushed it off, standing as well. "I'm going to have a word with the boy." He told the table, pecking his wife lightly on the lips and following Sirius' path back to his room as James stared after him, his eyes wide and his mouth open.

"Close your mouth, James, you're staring to resemble your great Aunt Martha."

* * *

"Knock, knock." Harold said as he opened the door to Sirius' room. He glanced at the burgundy walls and the Gryffindor banners displayed proudly for all to see, along with pictures that were spelled to stay on the wall, much to the chagrin of Rachel, who was fussing over what to do with the room when Sirius moved out.

"Hey, Harold," Sirius said without looking up, throwing clothes into his Hogwarts trunk – the kids were going back to Hogwarts tomorrow.

"I need to have a word with you, son. I thought you were writing to Hermione?" He asked, sitting down on Sirius' not made bed, his fingers tracing the stitching.

"Already have." He half-growled and picked up a spell book throwing it with force into the trunk.

"Woah! What's got you all hot and bothered?" Sirius smirked at the hidden innuendo, just like Harold knew he would and moved to his wardrobe, yanking open the doors. Harold caught a glimpse of a moving photo, which showed Sirius and Hermione, dressed up to the nines, dancing elegantly across a floor charmed to resemble ice and Harold knew that this was the party that Sirius had thrown for her for making up for her birthday.

"Nothing, it's just…I miss her, is all." Harold watched as he picked a leather band off his side table and pulled his too long hair into a ponytail at the nape of his neck, wisps falling to frame his much more elegant looking face.

"Yeah, that's what I came to talk to you about." He found that it suddenly felt rather awkward and he pulled at his robes, trying to figure out how best to phrase it, to tell the eighteen year old boy stood in front of him that he was in love, whether he knew it or not. "Well, you see…Erm…I have a present for you." Let the boy discover it on his own, Harold thought, that was just so much easier.

"Really? Cool!" He said, his attitude brightening up a bit and Harold grinned, standing.

"Come on then," he led Sirius back down the hallway, down the stairs, through the kitchen and out the back door.

"Err…Harold? Wha—"

"Shush, boy." Sirius obediently shut up, shoving his hands in his pockets up to his knuckles and following Harold to his garden shed. "Here we go," he put his own hand in his jacket pocket and pulled out a single key on a key-ring and threw it to Sirius, who expertly caught it. He raised his eyebrows and inspected the key, seeing nothing miraculous about it.

"Gee…Thanks!" He said, and pocketed the key, turning to go back the way he came.

"I think you'll be needing that," Harold said, throwing open the doors to the Garden shed, and Sirius practically felt his jaw unhinge as he took in the sight.

There, sitting in the shed, was a gleaming motorbike, looking majestic, its wheel front and centred, the handlebars cocked slightly, as if it knew of its own beauty. "Wicked," Sirius breathed, a grin fighting its way onto his aristocrat face.

"Take it for a spin," Harold suggested and Sirius grinned, intending to do just that.

"I think I'll take that advice, sir."

_A/N: for those of you who are missing prankster Sirius,don't worry, he'll make a return in the next couple of chapters :) and if anybody's annoyed that Sirius loves Hermione, even though he doesn't know it, I apologize. _

_I wanted to show Sirius with the Potter family and what he was doing for the Christmas holidays and I want the motorbike in this story! I love it :D. _

_Aaand, things are getting complicated for Hermione. Oh, also, I apologize because Legilimency is the ability to read minds and Occulmency blocks it – I didn't realise! Silly me!_

_Hope you like this chapter :) _

_Kelly_

_xxx _


	34. Reunion

**Disclaimer: **_Not mine_

**Weight of the World **

**Chapter 34**

Sirius was ecstatic to see Harold pull up outside Kings Cross Station, the thought of seeing his friends, and of course Hermione, was enough to make him jump out of the car happily, rounding to the boot to get his trunk. Why Rachel and Harold didn't just let them apparate to Hogsmeade he didn't know. He hefted his trunk out of the boot, his golden initials shining in the sunlight and he dropped it onto the conjured trolley, which Rachel glared reproachfully at.

"Alright kids, lets go!" Harold said loudly, running a hand through his salt and pepper hair in an exact imitation of his son. Harold was tall, thin and lanky and what he imagined James to look like in forty years. They pushed their trolleys through the station and a girl with waist length black curls, a denim mini-skirt, a blood red T-shirt and heels smiled flirtatiously at him and normally, he'd stop and chat, but he didn't even throw a glance her way, focused instead on the football talk as the World Cup was coming up this year. Ever since the Potters had gotten a TV and Megara had talked incessantly about the sport, Sirius and the Potter men had fallen in love with the game, though Sirius still preferred Quidditch more.

Once they reached the barrier for Platform 9 ¾, Sirius and James leaned casually against the barrier and slid through the tower of bricks effectively with no Muggle's noticing their disappearance. The first person that Sirius saw was Rayne, standing on her tiptoes to see over the crowd of students, her blonde curls piled messily on top of her head, her wand shoved through like the chopsticks woman liked to wear. Sirius made a bee-line for her, but stopped short when a blur of black curls and bright green glasses threw herself at him. Sirius smiled and his arms automatically embraced her, smiling into her curls.

"Heya, Kara, how you been?" He asked pulling away to look into her deep brown eyes.

While Kara launched into a story about her Christmas, Sirius found his thoughts straying to Hermione – she had brown eyes. The need he felt to get to here was almost overwhelming and inside he was twitching with impatience, but on the outside he smiled and laughed when prompted, showing someone who was clearly calm and collected.

Beside him, James was scanning the crowd, waving absently at Rayne who was making her way towards them, her big blue eyes dreamy and wide, as per usual.

"Lily isn't here yet. She owled me this morning, she'll be a tad late, but she'll be here on time," Kara told James, placing her hand on his arm and he frowned at the prospect at having to wait even longer to see her, despite seeing her yesterday – Sirius hadn't seen Hermione for a week and a bit!

"There's Remus!" Rayne gibbered excitedly, almost clapping her hands and Remus, was indeed, heading towards them, his trunk already on the train and his parents talking to Harold and Rachel.

"Hey, Kara," he smiled at his fellow Gryffindor, listening as Kara launched into her tale again, something to do with her Great Aunt eating a toad or…something.

"Guys!" Both James and Sirius turned as one to see Lily, who was hugging her mother and father good-bye, both of whom had shockingly red hair. She reached them just as the whistle for the train blew shrilly and there was a mad rush to board the train or it would take off in five minutes without them, something that didn't please many a student as the thought had them all clambering on the train, shoving trunks on and shouting, waving madly at parents and guardians.

Sirius flicked his head back, trying to get his hair out of his eyes so that he could find the Potters and say goodbye to them – after receiving his present off Harold, a simple wave goodbye wasn't going to cut it.

He spied them almost straight away and made his way over towards them, fighting the oncoming tide of students, trying not to get caught in the undertow. He sensed, more then knew, that James was right behind him – He wasn't the only one who had gotten a present; they had given James one of those muggle contractions that allowewd ou to write on the screen (a computer, his mind told him) although none of them quite knew how to work it. Once they got to the Potters, Rachel pulled him in for a hug so tight that he almost couldn't breath, but he returned her hug none-the-less, wrapping his arms about her shoulder and resting his cheek on top of her head – he was at least a head taller then her. He was beginning to wonder how long he could hold his breath when she realised him, clumsily patting him on the cheek and turning to bear-hug her son, who was already holding his breath in preparation. Harold gave him a one armed man hug and ruffled his hear, before pushing him away towards the train as the whistle blew again.

"Make sure you write!" Rachel said into James's shoulder, who at this point was turning a startling shade of blue.

"We will, Rachel," he promised, extracting James from her grasp. She frames his face and pulled him down, kissing his forehead before letting go of her son finally, her blue eyes suspiciously bright.

"Bye mum!" James said, waving his head exaggeratedly over his head, pushing past the last few students and jumping on the train, Sirius in his wake.

* * *

Hermione was sat cross-legged on her bed, reading a book she had borrowed from the Library, hoping that it mentioned another way that a Horcrux could be destroyed, but she knew deep down that it didn't. Beside her, her smoky grey cat, Aaylah turned around in circles before settling down, her tail curled around her face and her eyes slanted shut as her deep purring filled Hermione with memories of her fourth year, with Ron and Harry in Ron's room before the Quidditch World Cup Final, chatting to each other as beside her, Crookshanks purring in the background in a familiar rumble.

She missed the time with her friends, and always would, but this was her home now. Besides, she thought grinning, she'd see them again. In fact she'd see Harry in two years and seven months.

The door to the Girls common room burst open and Aaylah jumped up, claws out, hissing and spitting as the Golden retriever burst in, his tongue lolling out and his tail waving furiously. Hermione laughed at her cats' reaction and picked her up, cradling her close as Charlie sat and looked stupidly at her. Megara appeared, a smile on her face and her eyes alight with laughter as she grabbed the dog by her collar and shoved him, gently of course, into the closet. The glass window that Sirius had put in on Halloween was still there and Hermione watched as the dog settled down with a chew toy.

"Come on, Hermione! Let's go down to dinner! I miss the guys like crazy! I mean, it was nice having James, Remus and Sirius at Christmas, but I miss the girls!" Megara cried and ran down the stairs.

Sirius…For the hundredth time that day, Hermione let her thoughts stray to Sirius. It's been a week and a half and she missed him terribly but she was dreading telling him that she was now on Voldemort's most wanted list – not a conversation that she wanted to have. She knew how protective Sirius could be of the ones that he cared about, and she hoped against hope that he didn't try to control her movements. Even if it's for her own safety, she couldn't take being controlled.

She put Aaylah back down on her bed and the cat resumed her earlier position, her brown eyes staring at the glass window where Charlie was, the tip of her tail flicking back and forth.

Hermione followed Megara to the Common Room, where she was putting her tall England hat on her head and Hermione shook her head in amusement – that girl had such spirit and hope for her country.

"England! England! Whoop!" She sang, leading the way to the Great Hall, Peter and Hermione following her.

"Why does she keep going on about England?" Hermione asked Peter, wondering where the sudden references to their country appeared from.

"The Quidditch World cup's this summer," Peter answered, biting into his liquorice wand, "and so is the Muggle sport cup thing with the ball with patches on." Hermione's thoughts shot back (or foreword, depending on how you thought about it) to 1994, watching Viktor Krum catch the Snitch, but Ireland winning the game was very exhilarating. It was the only time that she shown any interest in the sport and that was only because Ron had asked her to go and back then, she had held a crush on the tall redheaded Weasley. "-Slovakia." Hermione tuned back to hear Peter mention the country and she trued to place that with their conversation.

"I'm sorry, Peter, my mind was somewhere else – what about Slovakia?" She asked apologetically and he grinned at her.

"Liquorice wand?" He offered her one and she gratefully took it. "England was battered in the last Quidditch cup by Slovakia. It was quite funny actually-"

"Funny? Funny?" Megara said from in front of them, "I, for one, did not find it funny! Urgh, it's okay though, England have a new team and we're on our way to the cup!" She punched the air and Hermione and Peter exchanged looks of amusement.

Hermione was finding it easier and easier to converse with the plump boy and she found that he wasn't the vile traitor he would turn out to be – if she could befriend him she might figure out what turned him to go sour and thus turn it around and save Lily and James, and also save Sirius and Peter as well, and Remus from loosing all of his friends.

They reached the Great Hall and sat down at the Gryffindor table, talking amongst each other and Megara and Hermione indulged in some boy talk – Hermione found out that Megara had a crush on a Ravenclaw in there year, who Thoma had introduced her to as he was one of Matthew's friends.

"How are Thoma and Matthew doing?" Hermione asked, tapping the wood of the table, spying the carved in _Sirius_ on the edge, away from prying eyes.

"They're doing okay. Peter, you got anybody in mind?" That's a point – Did Peter have someone – maybe she scorned him? It's a possibility, Hermione mused, not everyone goes for looks, and she chalked it up in her mind.

"No, well…Yes, but no but I-I…" The poor boy was going red with embarrassment and he rubbed the back of his neck, casting his eyes downwards as if he found the wood of the Gryffindor very interesting and began tracing the swirling patters with his forefinger.

"Oh, spit it out, Pettigrew," Megara said, narrowing her blue eyes at him.

"Autumn Phillips," he said and Megara raised her eyebrows – Autumn was Summer's sister, who was Kara's girlfriend. She was the Gryffindor of the Phillip's Quads and a year younger then them with thick auburn hair, deep brown eyes and were tall and thin – basically, her and her sisters were the bane of every girls existence.

"Everybody fancies them – It's rather annoying," Megara said to herself, resting her head in her hand. "Oh, when are they going to get here?"

* * *

The carriage jostled as it made its made its way down the path to Hogwarts, passing under the iron-wrought gates of Hogwarts, the chatter being covered up by the blanket of snow that seemed to protect the landscape from disruptions. Inside the warm carriage sat a number of people. Rayne Humes was sat closet to the door, deciding to go backwards on this journey, her dirty blonde hair pulled up messily, her wand shoved through it to secure it; beside her sat Remus Lupin, whose skin was a bit grey-tinged as the Full Moons effects slowly crept upon him, promising a night of excruciating pain; James Potter was howling with laughter, slapping his knee in mirth, his round glasses askew on his face; Lily Evans was shaking her head in exasperation at her boyfriend, her green eyes glinting in the overhead light; opposite her sat Matthew Young, Thoma's boyfriend, looking slightly out of place and he brushed his fringe out of his eyes; Thoma, her hair now a bright vibrant blue and extensions were put in, tumbling over her shoulders; Kara, cradling her lizard, Super-Hero and then finally Sirius, whose knee was bouncing up and down in slight agitation.

The ride was seemingly taking forever, Sirius thought, as he looked out of the window at the passing scenery and he let his thoughts focus on Hermione – he was going to see her in a matter of minutes! He didn't quite know why he needed to see her so badly, but when the doors to the carriage opened, he bolted out ahead of everybody else and practically sprinted to the double doors that gave access to the castle, before halting, his breath little visible puffs as he exhaled, thinking.

Remus passed him and he grabbed his arm, almost slamming him into the wall. "Ow! Dude, what?" Remus asked, rubbing the back of his head that had almost met stone full on.

"Tell Hermione to meet me in the Entrance hall," he instructed, letting go of his arm with an apologetic look; James was leaning against the wall, his arms crossed.

"Okay Dokey!" He said cheerfully, turning and grabbing Lily around the waist as she passed, making her squeal in delight.

They disappeared into the hall and Sirius leant his back against the wall, which was freezing, and placed the sole of his left foot against the cold stone, crossing his arms over his broad chest his leather jacket restricting his movements slightly. He'd wait a few more minutes.

He'd wait.

* * *

Hermione looked up just as Thoma plopped into the seat beside her, her bright blue hair a contrast to her olive coloured skin.

"Heya!" She said bubbly, "do you like it?" She asked, picking up a section of her hair and running a critical gaze over it.

"I—Well, it's a bit of a shock, but it's…lovely," Hermione said tight-lipped and Thoma seemed to accept her answer, smiling and turning to hug Megara, who was almost bouncing in her seat.

"Lovely, huh?" Hermione turned to see James as he placed his hand on the table beside her and leaned into it, bending his head and Hermione swore that it was Harry she was looking at and she had to blink, hard, to get rid of the image. They may look the same, but they were totally different people.

"Where's Sirius?" She couldn't help but ask, her brown eyes scanning the trickle of students coming into the Great Hall from the carriages outside, but no Sirius in sight.

"He wants you to meet him in the Entrance hall." James told her, examining his fingernails, which Hermione noticed where bitten to the wick, "I'm sure you'll find that even more lovely." Hermione stood almost at once, grinning at her friends before heading where Sirius wanted to meet her, almost bumping into the Slytherin Eric Crawler, who sneered but moved on. Hermione rolled her eyes and walked into the Entrance Hall, seeing Sirius slouched against the wall, staring at his foot, (the other pressed against the wall) a look of contemplation on his face, and Hermione walked towards him, fighting the urge to run, and she placed her hand on his arm.

Sirius had sensed her the moment that she stepped into the Entrance Hall, whether it was her scent that was uniquely hers or he could just tell he didn't know and, right now, he didn't particularly care and he had to fight the almost irresistible urge to look at her, but he had to play it cool. When her hand touched her arm, something in him snapped and he didn't know _why _he needed to touch her badly, but he did and he let his foot drop from the wall, spin and wrap his arms around her waist so enthusiastically that he pulled her up off the floor and her surprised shout had him grinning in her hair that smelled of strawberries and cream and the scent that was uniquely hers – parchment. Sure, many people here smelled of parchment, but she _smelt _of parchment, enough to tease his sense of smell more then enough.

"I've missed you," he heard her say into the crook of his neck, and he dropped a kiss to the top of her head, holding her tightly.

"You too." Hermione broke out of his grip and smiled at him before taking his hand and interlacing their fingers, intending to go back to the Great Hall, but Sirius had other idea's.

"Come on, Hermione." He tugged her arm, gently of course, to the front doors and Hermione's eyes widened, her eyelashes fluttering gently against her skin.

"Sirius, we can't miss out on the feast –"

"Of course we can. Besides, we need to talk about the other news – don't think I've forgotten about it Hermione." He chastised, hooking his finger beneath her chin and lifting her head up to look directly into his eyes. "We need a place of silence," he pressed a kiss to her forehead, "solitude," he kissed the tip of her nose, "and privacy." He hovered over her lips and Hermione felt the puffs of air against them before she raised herself onto her tip-toes and pressed her closed lips to his. The kiss was chaste and quick, but it was enough to send his heart pounding and his blood boiling. It was more then enough.

They parted and smiled before Sirius pulled on her arm and lead her in the direction of the Gryffindor Common Room, a smile on his face that he was with her again – the week and a bit that he was away from her was almost like torture.

They got to the portrait of the Fat Lady in silence and Hermione muttered the password as Sirius let go of her hand and pulled her close with an arm around her waist, his hand landing on her waist.

"Aww, you're so cute!" The Fat Lady cooed before the golden frame swung open, permitting them entrance. They settled comfortably on the Scarlet couch, sitting beside each other with their bodies turned towards each other, the fire flickering in the background, casting abstract shadows across the walls.

"This news," Sirius prompted, stroking his thumb across her knuckles in a comforting motion, "good or bad?" He didn't really want to ask, want to know, but he needed to – and there was a big difference there.

"…Bad," she hesitated in answering, but Sirius was expecting that. If it had been good news, she would have happily written it in her letter. Maybe that's why he had been so desperate to get to her, to know what was wrong. It was possible, but a teeny tiny voice in the back of his head (that in all honesty, sounded exactly like Rachel) told him that it was doubtful.

"Why?"

"Well…Okay, I'm just going to get this out now because it's rather complicated. Well, it isn't, it's just…hard." She admitted, averting her gaze, looking into the dancing flames of the fire instead. She opened her mouth took a deep breath and the whole story came pouring out, about Hailey being a supporter of the Dark Art, Matt Corbin in the forest and the threat on Hermione's life. All Sirius found that he could really do was sit and stare at her for a moment, trying to make sense of the words that had been spoken, not wanting to believe them, but knowing that they were real. He felt like somebody had punched him in the heart and breath left his body – his Hermione was now on Voldemort's most wanted list and he didn't quite know how to take that.

"Sirius?" He looked at her and saw the slight fear in his eyes, but he recognized it for the fear that it really was; the fear that he wouldn't accept it.

Did she not know him at all? He may be an immature prankster but he would never _ever _abandon her, didn't know if he physically could.

"What are you going to do?" He had to ask it, he had to know…

"Stay at Hogwarts – as long as I stay here, I'll be safe. I'll be safe, Sirius." He felt some relief and he allowed himself to wrap his arms around her waist fully and bring her to his chest, cupping her jaw and lifting her head, feeding her desperate kisses.

Merlin, how would he be able to live if she was ripped from him? He made a noise of fear at the back of his throat that sounded more like a moan, and pressed her harder against him, his tongue exploring her mouth fully as he felt her heart beat against his chest.

_Merlin, he loved her. _The thought entered his mind at lightning speed and his eyes opened instinctively on shock as he moved his head away from her. She didn't seem to recognize his movements and placed her forehead in the crook of his neck, her breath brushing his collar bone and his heart beat was suddenly strangely loud, echoing in his eardrums.

"Hermione, I…" _Say it_, his mind whispered, _say it_… "Hermione…" He felt his tongue roll back on itself and his skin flushed. Why couldn't he say it? It was three words, three little words and he felt, he really did.

But it was too soon, too sudden, too…unreal. Nobody falls in love that fast. Instead, he nuzzled her cheek with his nose, placing a light kiss there and she sighed against his skin just as his stomach rumbled. She looked up at him in amusement and stood, taking his hand and pulling him up with her. He took a moment to appreciate her looks, how the fire-light accented the natural reddish highlights in her chestnut locks, how they made her eyes alight with passion and her flawless skin almost glow.

He was lucky, he thought as he bent his head to kiss her forehead, he was so lucky that she had fallen into his life and even luckier that she was going to stay.

"Come on," she said, her hand cupping her jaw, her thumb rubbing his cheekbone, "let's go to the kitchens – we can have Hot Chocolate and you can tell me all about the prank I know that you're planning and I'm bound to disapprove of." Her hand slid from his face and she turned, leading him to the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"Hermione, I hope you know that this isn't over," he said gently. She stopped and turned to face him before smiling at him, a smile that tugged at the corner's of his own mouth.

"It is for now, just for a little while." She was stubborn, headstrong and a little naive – it'll never be over. But as they went to the kitchens, their steps echoing throughout the corridor, he allowed himself to relax. He'd tell her later; he decided as he pulled her back around to face him, wrapped his arm around her waist, lifted their hands high and began to dance them towards the kitchen, her laughter and shriek of surprise like music to him.

He dipped her low and lifted her back up and they were impossibly close – in that moment both literally and figuratively. He'll tell her later. He barked a laugh, flicking his hair out of his eyes and slung his arm around her shoulder, heading back to the kitchens. He really was hungry.

_A/N: That was so hard! Writers block is like the Devil! Grr...I must have re-wrote this about…four times and this is the best I can get it – I just couldn't write it down. _

_I hope you like it – I'm really nervous about this chapter :/ _

_Thanks for reading!_

_Kelly_

_xxx _


	35. Happy Birthday, Severus

**Disclaimer: Not mine :(**

**Weight of the World **

**Chapter 35**

9th January 1978

When the first rays of sunlight hit his eyes, Severus awakened. It was slow-going, but eventually he gained enough strength and awareness to push himself up, his sheet pooling around his waist as he rubbed at his eyes. Across from the room he heard Haydn Westwood stir and he resisted a snarl – he never cared much for his fellow Slytherin's. He pushed the dark green covers down and swung his legs to the floor, his bare feet touching the cold stone. He stood and shuffled to the bathroom, not waking up his roommates, no matter how much he hated them.

He washed quickly, not really paying attention as his mind was on other things. It was his birthday today and they were no presents at the end of his bed, no birthday cards – before, when he had been friends with Lily, there would have been a present and he would love it, using it at any opportunity –The sneakascope that she had bought him in fourth year stood on it's point on his nightstand, like it had for the past two years, only moving when he packed it up for the Summer Holidays.

He missed the friendship, he thought as he shut the water off, towelling himself dry quickly before getting dressed in his Slytherin school robes with pride, sighing at the sight of his unblemished forearm. That would change too soon.

But it needed to be done, he thought fiercely: if he wanted them to win, he_ had_ to do this, no matter how much he despised the thought.

He shouldered his bag and without looking back once he opened the door and let it slam shut beside him, waking the other three boys and he walked calmly down the stone steps to the Slytherin common room where he didn't pay attention to his other housemates, who were relaxing before a hard day of lessons. Ever since they had returned from Christmas holidays, they had been driven hard by the teachers – O.. and N.E.W.T.S were coming up soon, and they had to be ready. For Severus, this didn't make a difference as he was academically brilliant in most subjects anyway.

Upon entering the Great Hall, the first thing he noticed was that Lily Evans and James Potter were sat together at the Gryffindor table, laughing with each other, sitting so close that air couldn't get between them. What had happened to Lily? The one who thought that James Potter was an arrogant toe-rag? He sighed and shook his head, ignoring that pang in his heart and collapsed at the Slytherin table well away from the others.

He ate his breakfast quickly, not really bothering with what exactly he was eating. It tasted like ash in his mouth anyway. He stood and briskly walked out of the Hall. If he moved, he could be at the library and read or do some last minute homework before potions that morning.

Ahead of him, he was aware of Hermione Kingsley and Sirius Black, who was throwing his head back and laughing at something the lump of a boy, Peter, had said, gesturing to the werewolf behind them.

He still vividly remembered the night last year that he had gone down the Whomping Willow's passageway to see Remus Lupin's transformation and he was very aware of the fact that if James Potter hadn't stopped him, he would be dead at this moment in time.

"Oh, look who it is," Black jeered and Severus rolled his eyes.

"Leave him alone, Sirius," Hermione said tiredly, placing her hand on his arm and he gave her an incredulous look.

"What?" He asked aghast and Severus rolled his eyes again. He was not in the mood for this.

"Leave him alone," Hermione repeated firmer and Black narrowed his head before casually shrugging and wrapping his arm snugly around her waist; she leaned into his side and he pressed a kiss to her temple. Severus thought he'd be sick with the public display of affection playing in front of his coal black eyes.

"I don't need your help, Kingsley, nor do I want it," he said spitefully, glaring in her direction.

"Tough, because you've got it," she spat back and the only think Severus could do was glare. He could call her a Mudblood, knock her down, but what would that accomplish? Black would have him down so fast he wouldn't be able to blink, that's what would happen and Severus was not in the mood today. He shouldered past them, hurrying to the Library. He'd be to busy tonight to finish his homework, so he got as much done as he could – the pieces that he was unable to finish over the weekend.

He dug his timetable out of his bag and glanced over his lessons today. Potions, break, Transfiguration, Defence Against the Dark Arts, lunch, Herbology and Charms. A long, busy day.

After he had done as much as he could on his Potions essay, he decided to leave his charms until Lunch, where he would have time to complete it. He put his stuff away and hurried to potions, ignoring the knocks from other students and comments that were yelled down the corridor.

He got to potions before Professor Slughorn, who in all honesty was probably still scoffing his face with Breakfast. He leaned against the wall scratching the side of his nose as his eyes swept over the Gryffindor's clustered together on the other wall opposite him spying the lock of vibrant red hair. She was laughing – that's all she seemed to be doing these days. Her vibrant green eyes caught sight of his own black ones and he almost smiled, the tugging of his lips almost instinctual for whenever she looked at him. But then, she looked away, wrapping her arm around Potter's waist and he ignored the stab in his stomach, the way his muscles knotted and twisted at the sight.

Oh, how he hated the poor, sorry excuse for a man. He was arrogant, insensitive and a bully and he hated that he got away with it because he was a 'brave and noble Gryffindor'. Because he was a member of the Golden House, his bullying and teasing went unnoticed by many of the teachers who falsely assumed that, just because he was a Gryffindor that he could do no wrong and even the two Slytherin teachers ignored him because he was academically very smart. He hated how he got away with making people's life a misery and that he got the position for Head boy when he wasn't even a Prefect. Just another example of favouritism from the Headmaster.

Before he could finish his little rant in his head, Slughorn came bounding around the corner, his straw blonde hair bouncing on his head and Severus could make out the beginnings of a moustache on his upper lip – he was determined to grow a proper, mans moustache, but so far was failing horribly.

"Welcome students! Oh, don't you just love Monday mornings? Bacon for breakfast," he said in a satisfied manner, patting his round stomach as he non-verbally opened his classroom door. The student's poured in and took their regular seats, although Severus noticed that the Werewolf and Black changed places so that Black could be sat near Kingsley as he took his own seat at the back table, by himself.

"Today class, we will be making the _adceleratus _potion, which is a Latin 1st verb conjunction meaning to speed up, quicken, hurry. It will allow the drinker to gain speed for a period of time, but a downside of this potion is that it causes you to crash hard after it's been taken as your body is unable to cope with the speed. Now, open your books to page 45 we're going to get started…"

Severus didn't even pay attention to Slughorn as he moved to the store closet, not even needing to look at the book to know what ingredients were needed. He had gone through the whole text book, making all the potions beforehand and finding new and improved ways to make these potions, to make them better.

He spread his ingredients in front of him before opening his book for his own instructions, glancing over the Half-blood Prince written in the front of the book in his own hand. The page was full of scribbles and his handwriting, written hastily into the margins and under the print beforehand but he had no trouble reading them.

He set to work quickly, the task second nature to him as he periodically measured the ingredients, put them in his simmering cauldron, waited for the prolonged time and repeated the motion. He never understood really why this was so easy to him, but he didn't question it.

"Mr. Black, while that is extrodinary magic, I fail to see how it's relevant to the class?" Severus looked up through his curtain of black hair to see that Black had charmed his brass scales and Hermione's and they were slow-dancing.

"My scales were bored, sir," he said casually, leaning back on his chair, his hands behind his head while beside him, Hermione was trying not to smile, cutting her Beetles claws.

"I see. Well, in that case, I think that-" before he could finish, Potter's cauldron fired a fireball, much like a cannon, the flames curling around each other before disintegrating into thin air and, judging by the shocked look on his face, he either didn't expect it, or he could play up well.

"Mr. Potter! Whatever happened?" Slughorn ran from Black, who was chuckling to himself and took his wand from his back pocket, pointing it at the coat-rack in the corner and whispering a spell that he couldn't hear. He became apprehensive, wondering exactly what was going to happen and he kept one eye on the coat-rack knowing that he would be on the end of whatever was going to happen as he was the Gryffindor's favourite plaything.

After ten minutes (in which he had managed to finish his potion, way ahead of everybody else; the silvery mist rippling across the surface) the coat-rack moved, but it was only noticeable to those who were playing close attention to it, which he was.

"Right, by now you should be on Stage three of your potion – this is a very simple potion, people!" He boomed, clapping his hands in a way that a seal would. "I expect you all to finish this potion with no worr-" again, he was cut off, but this time, by the coat-rack that had grabbed his hand and whirled him around to dance exaggeratedly with him, spinning him around quickly, its two, golden clawed feet jumping in time to music that only he could hear, it's many arms, which had dropped the velvet robes that it once held, wrapping around Slughorn, a black trilby hat sat on top of the dome at the very top of the golden rod, as if it were the head.

The Look of pure panic and shock on Slughorn's face made him, and the rest of the Slytherin's and Gryffindor's, burst into laughter. It was an amusing sight, the coat-rack leading Slughorn into a tango, pulling him close and then dipping him low. His pale, gooseberry coloured eyes were wide open in shock, his straw blonde hair in total disarray.

"Who…Is…Doing…This?" He asked, gasping as he was unable to escape the Coat-rack's hold and was forced to dance the tango. The students all clapped in time to some hidden music and Severus felt like this was a pretty good start to his birthday, as Black and the Werewolf high-fived over Kingsley's head, but he knew it could only get worse from here.

* * *

Slughorn had let them all, but Black, Potter and Lupin go early and had shakily praised Severus for his good work, trying to smooth his hair back and calm his beating heart. Severus smirked as he vanished his potion, shouldered his bag and made his way to, where else? The library. He wasn't surprised to see Hermione Kingsley sat at his table, looking through a book that looked as if it were made through frayed leather and the look of disgust on the bushy-haired girls face told him it was a Dark Arts book. Undeterred, he pulled back his chair and sat down gracefully in it, a little perturbed when Hermione didn't even look up.

"Should you be reading that?" He asked and her brown eyes flickered up and back down to the book.

"No," she answered easily, turning a thick, yellow page of the book that looked centuries years old.

"Why are you reading it then?" He got out his charms work and intended to use the nest thirty minutes to finish it.

"Have to." Her short answers were annoying him and he decided to leave it alone, opening his charms book and wishing slightly that he was as adapt at Charms as he was Potions.

After working in a silence that was neither awkward nor stifling, Hermione snapped the book shut before standing, shoving it in her bag and pushing her chair in.

"We're you going?" He couldn't help the question slipping from his lips, wondering why she was suddenly departing.

"I have Transfiguration now," she said simply, taking a few steps away before stopping, rocking on her feet slightly. "By the way, Happy Birthday," she was gone before he could blink and he wondered vaguely how she knew it was his birthday as he watched the door close quietly, hitting the doorframe with a quiet thud. One corner of his mouth twitched at the slight sign of friendship before he banished it from his mind, going back to the Charms paper he had to write.

* * *

The rest of the day passed by uneventfully. He had learned that the three idiots had been given detention tonight and that Quinton had left for a while – not that Severus could blame him, if his wife died at Hogwarts, he'd leave as well. Instead, the Divination teacher, Professor Daniels, was teaching the class and compared to Quinton, her teaching of the subject was poor and he only hoped that the old Defence teacher would come back, even if he had been a Hufflepuff in his Hogwarts days.

Finishing up the day of lessons had never gone slower for Severus and, during Charms, he had kept looking at his watch as the second hand ticked around the face in a distracting and teasing manner that his life was slipping away and he only really had a few hours left of freedom before it was going to happen. He sighed when Flitwick came around the classroom collecting their assignments and Severus handed his over absently, not paying attention until the bell rang out loud and clear and he shot up, happy to be done with lessons for the day. How he was going to get through tomorrow, he wasn't quite sure, but he'd have to manage. He didn't really have a choice in the matter.

He gathered up his stuff and slinked out of the room, heading for the Slytherin Common Rooms, happy to just get some rest – he had been finding that sleep was very difficult for him to grasp as of late, and he was in serious need for a power nap. He muttered the password to the stone wall before him, watching with slight fascination as it parted and admitted him entrance and he stepped into the threshold of the silver and green room, the light flooding through the lake above them turning everything slightly green tinged and he walked past the leather couches, climbing up the stone staircase that would lead to his bed and he happily fell onto it, allowing the sheets to cover him and keep him cool – his eyelids slid shut over his coal black eyes and he welcomed the first curls of sleep, still wrapped up in his Slytherin robes, for once keeping his mind open as he drifted off, letting the dreams take over.

"_Come on, Hermione!" Sirius Black yelled behind him, laughing at the girl behind him who was walking slowly, purposefully but Sirius paid her tight lips no heed and ran back over to her, picking her up in one easy swoop, cradling her to his chest as she let out a squeak of surprise…_

…"_Lily! We don't have all day!" James said whining, his arms crossed over his chest and tapping his foot as he watched his red-haired girlfriend pack her bag painstakingly slow after their last lesson, which seemed to be Herbology as they were in the Green House. _

"_Oh, hush you!" She said joyfully, throwing the thick strap over her head and letting it rest on her shoulder, the bag's weight dropping to settle against her hip as she stood on her tiptoes, cupped his jaw and kissed his down-turned lips. He responded readily, wrapping his arms securely around her waist, pulling her closer…_

…_Peter was against a wall, being pinned by Eric Crawler, who was sneering at him, saying some words of pain and torment to the poor boy…_

…_Remus Lupin was sat by the lake, watching Hermione and Sirius run and play like children, seemingly in a game of tag. Remus sighed and let his eyes stray to the other end of the lake, where a group of Ravenclaw girls were sat, their socks and shoes off, dipped into the water as the watched the Giant Squid break the surface. Remus wished he could do the same, but the cuts and scars on his feet were very prominent and very noticeable, so, dipping in his feet in the nice, cool water was out of the question…_

…_Carrie Green was sat on Olivia's bed, a photo album opened in front of her and she watched them play their sequence, her blue and bronze tie substituting for a handkerchief as she dabbed her moist eyes..._

…_Spring Phillips combing her long auburn hair, a yellow silk dressing gown wrapped around her naked body as she glanced in the mirror at Kara Clyde, who was smiling dreamily, her chest rising with each intake of breath…_

…_Odette Grestitude swung her hips as she walked through the halls of Hogwarts, watching as the men panted over her delicious body and she winked at the nearest one, a fourth year Hufflepuff, licking her blood red lips in seduction…_

Sirius awoke with a jolt, sitting up quickly and shaking his head, trying to get the viewpoints that he had seen out of his head. He knew it had been a bad idea to lift his mind barrier but he was so tired. Having his mind barrier up meant that he couldn't dream and not dreaming is like being awake all the time. He was in desperate need of it, so he took a chance. He was just glad that nothing he had seen had been too drastic. He sighed and stood, changing quickly into his plain, black robes before leaving the common room. It was time.

* * *

He was stood in the centre of a circle, his hood up casting a shadow across his entire face as he kept his head down, focusing on keeping his mind barrier up. Around him, people were silent, staring at him with wonder and unease, their minds taking off letting themselves wonder how the boy would take it. He looked around the circle, the shadow across his face sliding to his nose as he lifted his head and his gaze fell on Lucius Malfoy who was stood opposite him. He saw Bellatrix Black, who was cackling under her breath and Regulus Black beside her, staring with apparent frustration at the older boy, who calmly admitted the scrutiny. His gaze flickered to Rodolphus LeStrange and Anthonin Dolohov who were quibbling about useless matters. Aleycto and Amycus Carrow to his left, whispering to each other in a way that siblings should not do. He was unaware of who was behind him, and he didn't like that – the only way that he'd be able to know was to let his defence down, but that would leave him vulnerable.

"Severus Snape," he froze at the calm voice from behind Lucius (who had gone even more pale and had quickly stepped to the side away from him) "nice to see that you've decided to join us." A figure loomed from behind the circle of Death Eaters, tall and skeletal, the black robes hanging off him easily, his face a pale white and wrinkles lining the features of the old dark wizard who terrorized the streets of England.

"Yes, sir," he said, holding his head high. He felt Voldemort's red eyes staring at him and felt a shiver go up his spine, but he refused to show it. The circular room they were in was dimly lit and Severus was finding it hard to keep the Death Eaters in his peripheral vision, making him feel very uneasy.

"Hmm…Hold out your left arm." He ordered and Severus gulped quietly, cautiously rolling up his sleeve and handing his arm out, his appearance somebody who was calm and collected, when really, he was petrified. He didn't want to be here, with Voldemort's long, thin, bony fingers wrapped around his wrist, squeezing tightly almost cutting off his circulation. "Do you, Severus Snape, agree to follow my commands?" He drawled, the tip of his wand trailing over his forearm as he stared into his eyes and Severus could feel the hairs on the back of his neck stand to attention.

Swallowing thickly, he licked his lips before saying, "yes," – before he could blink, his forearm burned as if it were suddenly on fire and it was all he could do not to scream. He clamped his mouth shut, his eyes shut and his face screwed up in pain as his legs failed him and he slowly fell to his knees as the pain overtook him as the Dark Mark was permanently etched into his skin – forever.

* * *

He stumbled into the Entrance Hall, grasping onto the door frame. He was so tired, the feat of keeping his mind barrier up, from stopping Voldemort see his real intentions was so tiring and the added pain on top was enough to bring him to his knees; for a second time that evening.

He gasped as he felt the fire curl up his forearm, his skin burning with the promise that he had no intention of fulfilling.

"What's up with you?" He whirled around so fast he almost lost his balance and got whiplash, staring incredulously at the five foot three Gryffindor who was staring at him, her green eyes sparkling, her hand cupped around the blue mug which was letting out tiny breaths of steam at the heat, her head cocked to the side her red hair spilling over one shoulder.

"Lily," the name slipped from his lips with ease, "what are you doing up?" his arms reached behind his back and he made sure that the sleeves of his shirt were covering his forearms pulled over his fingertips before bringing them around to the front and crossing his arms, biting his lip. He was sure that she could see right through him and knew just where he'd been and what he'd been doing – a young man's eighteenth birthday was the usual initiation into the Death Eaters, but some, like Regulus and Bellatrix, could be initiated earlier.

"Thirsty," she held up the mug in her hands as if proving herself and smiled, almost forcedly at the boy that had been her first friend in this strange place to her. "What about you?"

"Just…Out and about," he said vaguely, waving his left hand absently, the cuff of his sleeve falling on itself, exposing the end of the snake carved into his flesh and he moved quicker then ever trying to hide his mark, but he knew by the betrayal in her eyes that she had seen it.

"What have you done?"

"I had no choice," he said quietly, thinking of the mark that marred his skin and twisted across, ugly as sin and painful as Hell.

"I'm sure you didn't," she spat sarcastically and her eyes narrowed into narrow slits, "you're not bad, Severus. You don't belong there."

"You think I don't know that? I've always known I was different from the other Slytherin's, always the outcast-"

"So, what, you did it to _fit in_?" The anger was sparking from her and he had to resist the temptation to gulp.

"No, you don't understand, Lily-" he said almost desperately, but she cut him off.

"You know what? Save it," she turned on her heel angrily and made to stalk off, her slippers padding across the floor. "Oh by the way, Happy Birthday," the malice in her voice almost had him in tears and he closed his eyes tightly. Watching her walk away again was almost as painful as the Dark Mark and he prayed for her to learn the truth, knowing in his heart that she never would.

_A/N: I STILL have Writer's block! It took me ages to get this chapter written and I'm so sorry that it kinda sucks :(_

_On a completely random note, I went to see Toy Story 3 yesterday and it is AMAZING!_

_Thanks for reading!_

_Kelly_

_xxx_


	36. Hogsmeade Disaster

**Disclaimer: Not mine :(**

**Weight if the World **

**Chapter 36**

29th January 1978

A few weeks had passed since Lily had seen Severus' Dark Mark and she found it hard to believe that she had seen it so easily and quickly – almost like he'd wanted her to see it. But that was a ridiculous idea, Lily thought, why would he want her to know that he'd betrayed people and she was still struggling with the decision to tell someone. Of course she had to, he was a Death Eater for goods sake and was endangering the students of Hogwarts, but he had once been her close friend and she couldn't see him doing anything to harm anyone – to harm her – She stopped her train of thought as James sat next to her, pressing his lips against her own briefly and smiling sweetly before conversing with Sirius who was sat opposite them at the Gryffindor table.

"We need to cook up another prank, Prongs," Sirius said around a mouthful of Roast beef and Lily raised an eyebrow in slight disgust.

"That we do, Padfoot," James agreed and Lily rolled her Emerald green eyes in exasperation. Where was Hermione when this boys were cooking up trouble?

"Hey, Lils, I was thinking – Tomorrow, for your birthday, how about we go to Hogsmeade? Dumbledore permitted it when I asked and then afterwards we can celebrate it in style," James grinned and Lily couldn't find the smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. James Potter really had grown up, and she couldn't have been any happier with his sudden transformation from obnoxious bully to thoughtful boyfriend.

"Mate, that's pathetic." Sirius said, picking up his golden goblet sitting by his left hand. "I threw Hermione a ball," he said proudly, puffing his chest slightly.

"Hermione threw what now?" Thoma asked, sliding into the seat beside Sirius, grinning manically at her friends, her bright blue eyes tied back into a ponytail.

"Oh, we're going to Hogsmeade for Lily's birthday," James said, settling his hand on Lily's knee under the table, squeezing lightly.

"Oh, cool. Can Matthew come?" She asked, spearing a piece of chicken with a fork.

"Anybody can come – Dumbledore's allowed it to be a Hogsmeade day," James beamed.

"Nice!" Remus said as he took the seat on the other side of Sirius. Sirius stared at him like he was crazy, raising his eyebrows in expectation. "Err…You want me to move, don't you?" Remus asked, scratching the back of his neck.

"Uh-huh."

"Okay then," Remus laughed nervously, scooting over one seat over just as Hermione entered the Great Hall and Lily smiled as Sirius' eyes lit up, his head automatically turning that way as if he just _knew _that she was there.

They were really were cute together, Lily thought as Hermione went to the place between Remus and Sirius, placing a chaste kiss on Sirius' lips, stealing his dessert of Strawberries and it was a testament to the fact that he didn't yell at her for taking them away that he really liked her – he still smacked James if he tried to take some of his food. The chemistry between them was almost electrifying, even if they were just sat together and they acted as if they shared some big secret between themselves that no-one else was privy to. It as almost too cute.

"You up for it, Hermione?" James asked and Hermione blinked at him in slight confusion. She had no idea what they were talking about, but before she could ask, Sirius jumped in.

"No, Hermione's not feeling to well at the minute, so she won't be able to come with us," he looked somewhat sad as he said it and ran a hand through his black hair, pushing it away from his face.

"Yeah, I'm sorry, but I think it'd be best for me to not go," Lily was saddened to hear that Hermione wouldn't be joining them and regretted it – Hermione was now a dear friend of hers and she wished that she could join her on her birthday.

"Oh, that's a shame…Are you sure? We're going to Hogsmeade and everybody else is going."

"Yeah, I'm sorry Lily, but I really don't feel well," Lily remembered the 'episodes' that Hermione had had recently, putting her into the Hospital Wing for the night and decided to leave it.

"Okay, but you'll be at my party after, right?" She asked, hoping that she'd say yes. Hermione smiled, her brown eyes glinting and she nodded enthusiastically.

"Of course I'll be there, Lils – I have to give you my present!" Lily grinned back and leaned into James' side just as the rest of their friends got there and they were involved in the plan, each chattering excitedly about where they were gonna go and such and Lily smiled at them all – with the Muggles, she had never had so many friends willing to celebrate her birthday before and she couldn't be happier. She reached out a hand to cup the side of James face as he was talking to Peter beside him and turned his head to face her before leaning up and kissing him, her hand sliding in his hair as his slid around her waist and she felt her heart skip a beat like it did every single time when she was with him like this.

"Oi! People are trying to eat here!" Remus said, rather loudly, banging his fist on the table.

"Besides your doing it wrong, mate." Sirius grinned doggedly and wrapped his arm around Hermione's waist and lifted her so she was sat sideways across his lap and he ignored her squeak of surprise as her hands curled into the lapels of his jacket, glaring at him. He bowed his head down and captured her lips with his and Hermione's eyes widened in slight shock before closing and she readily responded, their tongues curled together in a passionate dance and Lily found it hard to look away, even though she knew that there was something wrong with watching your boyfriends best friend make out with his girlfriend, but she was somewhat captivated.

Sirius really did look like he could kiss.

The rest of the Marauders (and other Gryffindor men, of course) were hooting and hollering down the table, pounding on the wood and stomping their feet, but Sirius and Hermione seemed oblivious as Sirius' hand slid up her waist to entangle in Hermione's wild mane of curls.

A cough behind the two was what broke them apart and Lily smirked at seeing Professor Dumbledore stood there, an amused look in his eyes as his fingers steeped together. "I think, Mr. Black, it would be in everyone's best interest if you put Miss. Kinglsey down, don't you agree?"

Sirius looked sheepish, but made no move to let go of Hermione, who was moving, trying to get off his lap, her face red from embarrassment. "I seem to think she fits that rather well, wouldn't you say?" Lily blanched and hid her head in James shoulder as he chuckled. It was funny, Lily would admit, but it was creepy.

"Mr. Black. Now." McGonagall's no nonsense tone was what made Sirius loosen his grip and let Hermione sink back onto her wooden bench seat, but he kept his arm firmly around her waist. "Right, now, off you go." McGonagall gestured with her hands to get them moving and they all stood up, chattering away and smiling – tomorrow they were going on a major shopping trip.

* * *

30th January 1978

"Happy Birthday!" The eight Seventh year Gryffindor's chorused as Lily skipped down the stairs, her uniform on and bag slung over her shoulder, humming merrily to herself. Her eyes widened when she saw the posse of friends assembled at the base of the stairs, holding a banner that was covered in red glitter. Hermione smiled at her friends' reaction and hopped off the arm of the chair she was sitting on to hug her new friend.

"Thanks everyone!" Once cheers and thank-you's had been passed around, the Gryffindor's headed to their first lesson of the day, which was charms.

Later, the students entered Defence Against the Dark Arts class slightly weary. Professor Daniels had taken to charming some desks to hold varies curses and effect whoever sat on them, giving them hexes and such, stuff the Gryffindor's and Slytherin's were not looking foreword to on that snowy, January afternoon.

"Oh, don't worry, none of the desks have been tampered with!" Professor Daniel's laughed, tucking her pure-white hair behind her small ears and the students approached with trepidation.

"_Revelio!" _the cry of the spell that echoed around the stone, cylinder room came from Severus Snape and the rest of the class watched as the chair that Lily was about to sit on glowed a deep vibrant blue.

"Well done, Mr. Snape! 10 points to Slytherin! Now, today, we are going to be discussing the use of logic whilst fighting." She waved her wand over the chairs and more then half of them glowed blue before they sat down in them, hesitantly.

The class passed by in a blur after that, Professor Daniel's was a wonderful teacher, but Hermione was getting anxious that Quinton wasn't returning – she hoped he was okay.

It was the last lesson of the day and most of the students just wanted to go to Hogsmeade and Sirius was staring at the clock on the wall with such focus that Hermione was sure that no even a kiss would distract him. She honestly didn't know what the fuss was about, it wasn't like they never went – they went every Saturday!

When the bell rang signalling the end of the lesson, chairs were pushed back and chatter filled the room as they all practically flew to the door, eager to relax after a hard, long week of studying.

"I hope you have a good time at Hogsmeade," Hermione said as the Gryffindor's headed to the Common Room to change clothes for their outing – nobody wanted to go to Hogsmeade in their school robes and ties.

"It's such a shame that you can't come," Lily said, her bright green eyes downcast, "you don't look that ill today, are you sure that you can't come?"

"I don't want to risk it," Hermione replied and Sirius wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer.

They got to the portrait of the Fat Lady and James said the password, almost skipping into the common room. The girls and guys separated, each going to their own dormitory to gear up for the cold weather outside.

"What're you gonna do while we're at Hogsmeade?" Rayne asked, gathering her thick, curly blonde hair and pulling it into a ponytail at the base of her neck, not bothering to look to see if it was done right.

"Library probably," Hermione replied, removing her tie, lifting the smooth material over her head – she still had a lot of research to do about what (and were) the Horcruxes could be and this time had a lot more books on the subject then in 1997.

"What a surprise!" Thoma mumbled sarcastically, pulling a bright yellow jumper over her head that clashed with her bright blue hair.

"You're always at the library," Kara supplied.

"What else am I supposed to do?" Hermione retorted.

"Very good point," Megara interjected, wrapping a red scarf around her slender neck.

"Have you seen my gloves?" Kara asked, raking through her trunk throwing clothes over her shoulders, looking for her purple, leather gloves.

Megara threw her gloves at her and slid her arms through the sleeves of her knee-length dark brown coat wit fur along the cuffs. "Don't you just despise this weather?" She asked, putting her wand in the front coat pocket, "I miss my denim-mini skirt!"

"Okay, looks like we're just about ready," Thoma said, looking at everybody, "see you later, Hermione," and with that, the four girls left the room and went to Lily's on private room to meet her there, while Hermione went to the boys dormitory to say goodbye to Sirius.

She knocked on the door and briefly wondered why the boy's staircase didn't activate like the girls one, but her train of thought was lost when the door opened and she found herself speechless.

Sirius was leaning against the doorframe with an air of elegance, his hair framing his aristocratic features. He had on a long sleeved burgundy shirt that hugged his muscled body just so, and tight black jeans. Hermione's jaw practically hit the floor and Sirius cocked his eyebrows, showing her that he knew exactly the effect that he had on her.

He stepped closer to her, causing her to automatically step back and he shut the door, blocking off the view of the other two boys in there and Hermione could hear the indignant "Hey!" That sounded as if it came from Remus.

As he took another step closer, Hermione instinctively took one back and bumped into the stone wall behind her – she wasn't threatened, she was actually…turned on? She blushed at the thought and Sirius leaned his palms against the stone wall on either side of her head, leaning his head down so their lips aligned, but not moving foreword. Puffs of breath escaped his mouth and brushed against her lips and her heartbeat sped up incredibly, each beat of her heart echoing in her ears like a war drum.

They stayed that way for a few minutes, lost in each other, waiting for the kiss that was surely to come, the tension building between them getting more and more tangible that Hermione could cut it with a knife. Before she could lean up on her toes and kiss him, like she was dying to do, Sirius moved his head to the side and trailed kisses down the column of her neck, nipping at her skin, sucking on her pulse point and Hermione moaned and leaned her head to the side granting him more access. She felt him grin wolfishly against her skin as he continued with his ministrations, but Hermione was to caught up in what he was doing to her to really pay attention. Her hands wound into his fine black hair and pulled his head back and up, letting their lips meet for an explosive kiss.

He responded readily, his hands wandering down her sides to the back of her thighs and he lifted her clear of the ground and, for both their benefits, Hermione wrapped her slim legs around his hips and he pushed his body closer to her in the heat of the moment, their breathing picking up and their hearts hammering so hard that the other could feel it. Hermione moaned when Sirius' tongue slid into her mouth and she responded in kind, partaking in a maddening chase and follow that made her skin heat up furiously.

None of her other boyfriends (well, Viktor or Cormac) could kiss like this – like they made her feel that she was the only person that mattered to him, like she was _his!_

They were pulled apart by a flash out their corner of their eyes and they both turned their heads in their direction to see a sniggering Remus holding a camera before running full pelt down the stairs. Sirius sighed and let Hermione slid down his body until her feet hit the stone floor; she leaned into his chest and he wrapped his arms around her shoulders, one hand drifting to cup the back of her head, holding her close.

"Come on, Sirius!" James' voice floated up the stairs and Sirius sighed again, the air ruffling Hermione's curls. He laid his cheek on top of her head, breathing in her scent before reluctantly pulling away. She smiled sadly and unwound her arms from his neck, letting his hands rest on his pectoral muscles and she looked up into his grey eyes that had darkened to an almost black.

"Have fun," she breathed and leaned up to plant a chaste kiss on his lips and he groaned lightly.

"Urgh, I can skip out on this and stay with you," he said staring intently into her eyes and she grinned.

"Nah, go with Lils – don't worry, I'll be safe in the impregnable castle. Be safe," she said and he smiled sadly, leaning down and pressing a lingering kiss on her forehead before taking her hand and walking down the stairs to join the others and they sat off for Hogsmeade, leaving Hermione stood in the common room, the others waving cheerily at her before the portrait slammed shut.

"Well, guess it's just you and me, eh Aaylah?" She asked her grey cat, who was curled up on the burgundy couch and she blinked lazily at her owner who laughed and ruffled her fur. "Right, I'm off to the library," she said almost happily and the cat meowed in understand, her tail flicking lightly before her amber eyes closed again and she entered the land of sweet oblivion once again. Hermione chuckled and grabbed her bag, throwing it over her head and shoulder.

* * *

Severus snapped his head up when Hermione opened the doors and his coal black eyes narrowed once he saw it was her before shooting out of his seat and stalking towards her, taking her arm and dragging her back out again, ignoring her squeal of protest.

"What the Hell are you doing here?" He hissed, pushing her into a hidden alcove that Hermione didn't even know was there, framing her body with his arms, trapping her escape.

"Well I was trying to go to the Library!" She retorted, crossing her arms over her chest and turning her head to the side.

"You're joking right?" He asked, slightly frantically and Hermione let her gaze flicker to the Slytherin.

"Obviously not."

"Why aren't you in Hogsmeade?" He asked, running a hand through his black hair.

"Because, Snape, I don't feel like it." She said simply, not divulging the real reason why she couldn't go and enjoy her afternoon with her boyfriend and their friends.

"But…You have to be there! Hermione, you're the best dueller in the whole year!" He grasped the top of her arms and shook her lightly.

"What does that have to do with anything? Snape, that isn't making sense—"

"The Death Eater's are going to attack Hogsmeade, Hermione."

* * *

Sirius was leaning against the wall of Honeydukes, rifling through a bag of Bertie Botts every flavour beans, trying to find some decent coloured ones that looked plausible to eat and he settled for a bubblegum pink one hoping it would be strawberry. Biting into the bean, he was pleased to taste the strawberry-ness flood over his taste-buds.

"What'd you get?" Sirius' grey eyes flickered, watching as Peter rocked backwards and forewords on the balls of his feet, looking slightly pre-occupied.

"Strawberry flavoured. Want one?" He offered the bag to Peter just as he saw Lily and James come out of the Three Broomsticks, with Remus and a girl from Ravenclaw called Carrie Green, who had been close friends with Olivia and Thoma and Matthew behind them, each chatting happily, lost in their own little world.

"Hmmm…Yeah," he decided, reaching out for the bag and dipping his hand inside, raking through them blindly. He pulled out a grey coloured one and looked at it disapprovingly before popping into his mouth and blanching at the warm and spicy taste of pepper that he didn't appreciate.

"No good?" Sirius asked, pushing off the wall and shioving his hands, and the bag, into the pockets of his leather jacket, walking in the direction of James, Peter following eagerly behind.

"Not really," he answered and they were almost level with James and Lily. James saw them and waved, and Lily turned in his grasp, peeking through her vibrant red hair to see them before she and James were thrown foreword with force as the wall beside them blew up, sending bits of brick and debris everywhere. Instinctively, Sirius turned and pushed Peter down, following and he ignored the cold snow as it seeped into his clothes. Once he felt it was clear, he scrambled up, running full pelt to the pile of bricks, hastily throwing bricks over his shoulder, digging in it, trying to find his best friend. He felt his heart quicken in fear as he thought of his best friend underneath the rubble, possibly dead and he swore he felt his heart stop.

* * *

Hermione stared blankly at Snape, trying to process his information. "You're joking right?" She unknowingly repeated his own question back to him and he laughed maniacally. Hermione was shocked to see her normally calm and collected Potions master basically fall apart.

"Do I look like I'm joking? Kingsley, I don't have time for stupid questions, Lily doesn't have time for them!" He said and Hermione raised her eyebrows.

"Lily? What about Lily?" Snape let out a breath of frustration and almost made a grab for his hair, but stopped himself from pulling it out.

"Why do you think I'm going to do all this?" He asked, gesturing to his forearm, just because Lily knew doesn't mean that Hermione did, and he'd prefer to keep it that way, "for kicks? Because I believe in it? Pfft, please," he said, shaking his head, "I have an ulterior motive for joining these deluded wannabe's," he wrung his hands and his eyes flickered to the right. "Can we please go now?"

"You can't be that worried about Lily, Snape, if you were you would be there already," she said, but she was already walking briskly down the hallway.

"Because I thought you'd be there! I don't like you, but you sure can duel. Hermione, I'm not about to go hanging around somebody who despises me, so I have to look after her in a different way." Hermione stopped and turned her aghast eyes to Snape, who stopped with a frustrated huff.

"What is it now, Kingsley?" He spat impatiently.

"You're gonna join the Death Eaters to protect Lily." She said slowly, like she couldn't quite believe it. He made a noncommittal noise in the back of his throat and pushed past her, almost running to the entrance. "Wait! Shouldn't we get Professor Dumbledore?"

"He's already there. I suggested earlier that him and some other respected teachers should go 'for a stroll' and they did." He threw the doors open and literally ran down the steps, Hermione close behind him, fear taking over as the situation presented itself – Sirius was there. She felt her heart beat strangely and it almost stopped at the thought.

"Why are you getting me when Dumbledore's already there?" Despite this fact, she knew she'd go anyways, Sirius needed her.

"Because I know you'll protect Lily and Co. You're from the future – how come you didn't know about this?" He asked, panting.

"I don't know!" She couldn't recall the incident, and she was starting panic – how could she not remember this?

* * *

James looked deathly white against the blood red colour of the bricks and he dug James from the wreckage, noting that Carrie and Remus were working on digging out Lily while Peter made sure that the bricks they were moving didn't cause an avalanche of more bricks with his wand – in Sirius' haste he didn't even bother to use his wand.

"James, James mate, come on, wake up," he knew his voice was shaking but he did nothing to hide it, instead he felt his stomach tighten the more that he was quiet. He reached out with a shaking hand and was relieved to feel the steady beat of a pulse beneath his fingertips just as a window at Honeydukes blew up, spreading glass in the streets. He covered James without a second thought and looked down the street to see a group of three, black cloaked clad men with black hoods and silver masks walking towards them, wands raised, ready to attack.

"_Expel—"_

"_Expelliarmus!" _The Death Eater's wand flew from his grip and Sirius let his gaze move to Carrie, who was holding her wand aloft, a fire in her hazel coloured eyes, her hat askew on her head.

"Thanks," Sirius said, grunting as he lifted James onto his shoulder in a fireman carry, smiling at the Ravenclaw.

"No problem," She smiled back and Sirius took out his own wand from the inside pocket of his leather jacket, aiming it at the Death Eater on the far right. "_Impedimenta!" _Sirius watched with some satisfaction as the Death Eater was knocked back and his mask flew off his face revealing a man with crooked yellow teeth and lots of facial hair.

"_Incendio!" _The remaining Death Eater said angrily and flames erupted from his wand, surrounding the students in a circle of fire, trapping them within the confines of the burning flickering flames.

"Oh, we're doomed! This is actually happening! Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no—"

"Thoma, shut up and get your wand out, for Merlin's sake!" Remus snapped, and Thoma stared at him incredulously as Matthew picked up Lily, cradling her to his chest.

"_Aguamenti_!" Peter yelled and water gushed out of the end of his wand, dousing the flames before and Remus aimed a stinging hexat the last Death Eater, who had been cackling maniacally.

"Nice going, Peter!" Matthew said, grunting as he lifted Lily more securely into his arms.

"Come on, lets go!" Sirius urged, his knees buckling with the weight of his best friend, but a weight he would gladly carry.

"What is going on?" Professor Dumbledore boomed, McGonagall and Slughorn following close behind.

"Oh, we're saved!" Thoma practically cried, clinging to the robes of the round professor, crying into the velvet fabric.

"Death Eaters, sir!" Matthew panted and Dumbledore and the rest of the professors didn't wait for a further explanation, drawing their wands and heading in that direction, stern looks on their slightly weathered faces.

"This is ridiculous!" Remus said, wiping his face from the dust and ash that was on his face and Sirius knew that he didn't fair much better.

"You think? Come on, let's get back to the castle before –"

"_Reducto!" _Sirius and James were thrown foreword, cutting off what he was going to say as he found himself airborne and landed onto the floor solidly, feeling his arm crack beneath his body weight. He groaned and turned over, ignoring the blinding pain and screams as he searched for his wand, his fingers moving fractically through the dirt before a foot stomped on them, making then immobile and he felt the bones shift. "Ah, the Black who betrayed his family. What a nice…surprise." A wand was in his face and he let his grey eyes stare into the dark brown ones that he could see through the holes in the mask thinking 'If he's gonna kill me, he'll have to look into my eyes as he does it.'

"_Relashio!" _The Death Eater was thrown back and Sirius breathed a sigh of relief before his stomach tightened into knots again at the sound of the voice who had, essentially saved him – he would recognize it anywhere.

"Hermione!" He gasped and struggled upright, cradling his broken arm to his chest, "you shouldn't be here, Hermione, you have to go-"

"Sirius, shush. I'm the best duellist in the year. I can do this." She said, holding a palm to his face. He closed his eyes at the touch, but opened them again when the roof to Zonko's joke shop caved in, the sound almost deafing mixed with the screams of the other students.

"Okay," Hermione smiled and moved away, bending over James and pressing the tip of her wand to his chest.

"_Ennervate," _she whispered and James coughed, his hazel eyes opening.

"What-?" He gasped and Sirius moved into his eye sight.

"Nice of you to finally join us,"

"James!" Lily called and Sirius looked to see Severus Snape sat beside her, his head buried in his hands.

"What's he doing here?" He said, anger taking over his senses at the sight of the Slytherin boy.

"Sirius, leave him be," Hermione said, ducking as a purple spell flew over her head.

"I found the Mudblood!" Sirius froze at both the words and the voice – he knew who that was.

"Hermione, I take it back, you have to go!" He effectively stood in front of her, blocking any attempt to get at her as the Death Eater stopped and moved their hand, taking the mask off –

"Sirius Black – we meet again,"

"Bellatrix." He growled, watching as his sadistic cousin smirked before moving her wand in a slashing motion, whipping through the air as she hissed her spell.

"_Crucio!" _Before the red spell could make contact, he was pushed forcibly out the way and a scream penetrated the air that made the hairs on the back of his neck raise and a chill to go down his spine. His horrified eyes met James' who was hugging Lily closely and he shook his head.

Time seemed to slow down for Sirius and he felt like he was moving through thick water. Thoma screamed in surprise, but it wasn't enough to cut off the dreaded scream coming from behind him.

He turned and saw Hermione withering on the floor, her eyes tightly closed as the spell reeked havoc on her abused body and before he could blink, his vision went red and he growled low in his throat and ran towards his girlfriend, to the woman that he loved and threw himself on top of her, taking the remainder of the curse.

It felt as if his skin was being burned from his bones and that as thousand knifes were stabbing him all at once – the pain was unbelievable and he couldn't stop his own screams from crawling up his vocal chords until the spell suddenly stopped.

"I'm not going to hurt you, baby cousin," Bellatrix almost sang before whimpering and giving him the puppy dog eyes under her heavily made up eyelids. "Her, on the other hand – hand her over, Sirius, and I'll let you and your stupid friends go." He looked over to see that more Death Eaters had appeared, each one having his friends in their grasp.

"I don't think so, Bella. You won't take any of us," he rasped out, his hand frantically going to Hermione's chest, resting a hand over her heat, relishing in the beating that he could feel.

"Oh, really?" she said mockingly and rolled up the sleeve of her black gown and Sirius watched in horrific fascination as the snake carved into her forearm slithered and she pressed the tip of her finger to it. It burned red before settling down and she cackled, dancing like a mad woman. "He's coming! He's coming!"

A jet of silver light appeared from the side of his vision and he watched as Bella was thrown, looking comical as she did a cartwheel through the air.

"You're welcome," Sirius grinned as Megara jumped into his vision, bowing as Professor Dumbledore arrived, looking exhausted and worn out.

The old wizard raised his wand and pointed it at the Death Eater holding Thoma, who was whimpering. _"Tarantallegra!" _The Death Eater's legs started moving uncontrollably and he danced off, his curses and yells following after him the further away he got.

The other Death Eater's seeing that Dumbledore was there, quickly disapparated just as Hermione stirred beneath Sirius.

"Oh, Hermione, love," he said, brushing her hair back out of her brown eyes, "I thought you were good at this duelling thing," he cheekily said and Hermione hit him weakly on the bicep. Sirius laughed lightly and helped her sit up before wrapping his arms tenderly around her shoulders, holding her close – he hated this helpless feeling and he longed to make it better. Just as that thought entered his head, a jet of yellow light skimmed his left ear and he groaned into Hermione's hair. He was not in the mood for this.

"_Waddiwasi!" _Hermione cried and a small, smooth stone sailed threw the air and hit the Death Eater between the eyes as she cast a _protego _charm at the rest of them to save them from a red spell that Sirius hoped was not the Cruciatus curse and rolled them over, avoiding a jet of blue light (that Sirius knew was _Agumenti_) and fired a knee-reversing spell, causing the knee's of the Death Eater to move to the other side of his legs with a sickening crunch and he toppled to the floor.

"Alright, no need to show off," he grumbled good naturally.

"Well done, Miss Kingsley! Now, we have to go, the auror's have it all under control,"

"Sir, Voldemort's coming," James said, pushing his glasses up his nose even though they were clearly broken.

"I know, and so do they – don't worry, he won't harm you," as he said this he let his gaze linger on Hermione as he said this, his blues twinkling. She nodded before she groaned in pain the muscles in her neck pulling painfully.

Sirius pulled her close, tucking her head into the crux of his shoulder and looked out over Hogsmeade – smoke was curling from the tops of houses and fire erupted across the small town – he could hear women screaming and children crying and it broke his heart to be living in such times.

He saw Professor McGonagall rushing towards them, other students in her wake, her hair dishevelled, and a look of horror and sadness on her old face.

"Professor, Miss Humes has seriously hurt herself and must be taken to the hospital wing immediately!" She said urgently and Sirius felt sadness for his dreamy, out of this world friend.

"What happened?" Dumbledore said calmly and said a spell that had ropes flying out of the tip of his wand, tying the Death Eaters hands and feet together, so that they could not move.

"She tried to repel a Death Eater sir, with her own spell and well, this happened," Kara supplied, moving to the side to see Rayne who looked like a puppet with no strings and was hovering a few inches off the ground, her ponytail shoved to one side and blood dripping down her face.

"Oh, Rayne," Hermione said sadly, leaning back into Sirius' hold.

"She repelled the Death Eater though!" Kara said excitedly, "then Kingsley, not you Hermione, obviously, came and tackled him, slamming him into the ground. I swear, if I wasn't a lesbian, I would so have him." Sirius chuckled at Kara's words and he could honestly say that it felt strange to laugh after what he had just gone through and witnessed – his muscles still ached terribly.

"Let's go back to Hogwarts now," Snape said, rubbing his bicep where a Death Eater had him in a vice grip and he nodded, for once agreeing with the Slytherin and turning, with Hermione still in his arms, and following the trail of students to the castle, hurrying. They were all in for a trip to the hospital wing.

* * *

The moonlight cut across the marble floor through the gap in the curtains, falling across Hermione's bed, making her white skin glow even more and her brown eyes seem almost golden. She was wide awake, staring at the bed beside her where Sirius lay, his arm in bandages across the wrinkled sheets of his bed, his eyes closed peacefully in sleep and she let out a breath of hurt – not physical hurt, mental hurt. She was sick of seeing the people that she loved so much get hurt.

Wait…Loved?

The door to the Hospital Wing creaked open slowly and Hermione slowly rolled her head on her pillow, looking over Lily's bed to see a shadow creep across the wall, the caster unseen until he stepped into the shaft of light the moon created and she saw who it was.

"What do you want?" She asked and he jumped – he obviously didn't know that she was awake.

"I came to see my brother," he said and sunk onto Sirius bed, sighing as his own grey eyes landed on the bandaged arm. "Who?" He asked, gesturing to Sirius arm that had been heavily broken and Hermione sighed.

"Don't know, but your darling cousin cast Crucio on us," she said harshly, "where you there, under a silver mask?" She said hatefully and Regulus gulped.

"No. I wasn't permitted to go seeing as it was me who set out the hit."

"Why you stupid-" Hermione began, but was cut off.

"I don't want to do this anymore," he said, letting his grey eyes wonder to each bed in the Hospital Wing, everyone occupied by a student. "Hermione, I need your help and I know you can help me. I don't want to be an evil Death Eater, it just isn't in my nature. I never intended any of this, none of this."

"Right," she said dubiously, keeping her voice quiet so as not to disturb the people around her, "and what do you expect me to do?"

"You're from the future, you know how to beat him. I know you know about the Horcruxes – So does Voldemort, he's moved them all. Well, he hasn't told the Death Eaters, except I think Bellatrix might know what they actually are – he's moved a ring, Hufflepuff's cup and Slytherin's necklace and I know where they are." Hermione stared at him incredulously, not sure if she should believe the Death Eater but he looked at her, his grey eyes shimmering and she knew that he was being sincere.

"How do you know I'm from the future?" She asked, picking at her sheets, she was getting slightly annoyed that her secret wasn't a secret anymore.

"All the Death Eater's know. Hailey, remember?" She blinked after hearing her former professor's name and sighed in realisation.

"Okay, Regulus. Help me get the Horcruxes." She said and Regulus bowed his head before glancing at Sirius one last time and standing.

"I'll contact you within the next week." He said and slid out of the room silently, the door closing with a small resounding click.

"Hermione? Who're you talking to?" Sirius asked groggily, leaning up on an elbow, looking at her through his eyelashes.

"No-one," she said quietly and smiled when he collapsed back onto the mattress and his breathing evened out. She quietly moved her legs from between the sheets and padded the small distance between their beds, the need to touch him almost overwhelming to her. She crept into his bed, resting her head against his chest and her arms wrapped around his torso, his automatically coming up to cradle her and she felt safe. She allowed herself to drift off with the thought that she could actually beat this and Sirius' heart beat echoing in her ear rhythmically, the sound lulling her into a dreamless sleep.

_A:N – Okay, it's been about…a week? Since I posted last and that is because of two reasons. 1) I've been out everyday this week, so I haven't had time to write properly until the day before yesterday, in which I wrote 8 pages in one sitting (love it when that happens!) and 2) I've been going over and over it to make sure that it's right and reads right and stuff – I'm not brilliant at fighting scenes, so cut me some slack, yeah? _

_Anyways, thanks for reading and I hope you like it!_

_Kelly_

_xxx _


	37. The return of Quinton

**Disclaimer: **_Not mine_

**Weight of the World**

**Chapter 37 **

7th February 1978

A week had passed since the Hogsmeade attack and everybody had been released from the hospital wing – Hermione's muscles were still sore from the attack and she felt more jumpy and on edge since, but she was fine. They all were.

The Gryffindor's were sat around the fire in the common room, but gone was the usual laughter and chatter – instead, only dull silence could be heard and they all stared into the flames. Hermione had spent almost every day this past week wondering why she hadn't remembered the attack, why it hadn't been documented when surely it was something to remember – Hogsmeade had never been attacked so viciously before and it wasn't news to be taken lightly.

Beside her, Sirius shuffled, pulling her closer to his warm body and Hermione was grateful for it – he had been hit with the Cruciatus curse as well and Hermione had a feeling that that wasn't the last that they would be seeing of Bellatrix Black.

The silence that she found herself sitting in wasn't awkward or full of tension – it was a thoughtful silence, the kind that you would find in the library, only this was a bit more intense. Every one was thinking about the events of last week and why it had happened and, which was a more important question, why hadn't anybody been seriously hurt? It was strange that the Death Eaters would go to the town and not kill anybody – the only forgivable used that night had been on them. She twisted lightly in his grasp and leaned against his chest, his wife beater fisted in her fingers as she tried to pull herself closer to him.

When he had awoken in the Hospital Wing to see her curled around him, he had pulled her up and kissed her so sweetly that she nearly melted right there. They had talked, in whispered voices so as not to wake the others, about what had happened and he had asked the question that had slightly offended her: "Did you know it was going to happen?" to which she'd replied: "Do you really think I'd have let you all go to Hogsmeade if I knew?" And left it at that. Thankfully, he hadn't questioned it again.

Now, sat around the fire, she wished her mind would go pleasantly numb, so that she didn't have to think about this anymore. Her eyelids felt heavy and, even though it was only half past eight at night, she allowed them to slide closed, knowing that her friends were safe.

Just as she entered that haze between asleep and awake, she heard a constant tapping, followed by a whoosh and a thud and something dropped into her lap, disturbing her almost slumber, but she didn't open her eyes – she was just so tired.

"I wonder who it's from." It was the first thing that had been spoken all day by any of them and hearing somebody talk felt slightly foreign to her ears at the minute she was so used to the silence.

"Don't know," that was Sirius and his voice vibrated in his chest, echoing in her ear and it was very comforting. He felt his hand brush her thigh and the feather light weight of the letter was lifted. She hoped it wasn't going to read it. "I recognize the hand-writing though," he muttered and the arm that was around her shoulders fell lower, so it was wrapped around her waist, his hand on her hip. She blearily opened one brown eye and lifted her hand from his chest, grabbing the letter and smiling at Sirius' sheepish look, like that of a little boy who had his hands caught in the cookie jar.

She looked at the front and she to recognised the hand-writing and she flipped it open and slid her finger wearily under the flap of the envelope, and ripped it open, unfolding the parchment and reading the slightly smeared words.

_Hermione, _

_I heard about the attack on Hogsmeade and since you didn't contact me in anyway, I'm going to assume that you didn't know about it – At least, I hope so. _

_I'll be back at Hogwarts first thing tomorrow and I'll see you in class on Wednesday, but I would appreciate it if you came to see me. I have something for you._

_Quinton Timble. _

What could Quinton have for her? She wondered, letting her arm drop back down after it got to heavy to hold up anymore.

"Who's it from?" Sirius whispered against her temple and Hermione let the paper fall into his lap, her eyes sliding shut again as her brain thought out what he could have gotten for her.

* * *

The next day, Hermione walked quickly to Quinton's office, a smile on her face, happy to see her old friend again. She had woken up that morning on the couch, Sirius behind her and his arms clasping her to him. Her heart had given a sudden jolt at she wished that she could wake up like this everyday. She could still hardly believe that Sirius had chosen her to pursue he was out of her league and she was aware of how lucky she was – he was kind, caring, strong, protective, was aware of her limits and he didn't get evilly jealous like Ron used to – it was refreshing.

She got to the office and opened the door without knocking, knowing that there was no chance of walking in on him in a compromising situation. The office, which had been covered with colourful Afghans and dream catchers due to Professor Daniel's having taken over for a while, was now bare and it felt creepy, she had to admit. While she liked Quinton and was glad that he was back she was feeling apprehensive to his return, hoping that he was still going to be able to teach them DADA effectively and not get his personal life get in the way.

Not that she'd blame him if he did.

She jumped at the sound of a door closing and her gaze went to top of the room, the stair case coming into her view that led to the teacher's office and she saw Quinton standing at the top, looking for the world like a little boy who had lost his best friend.

He had lost weight was the first thing she noticed, his shirts hanging off his slight frame now – he hadn't bothered to shave either, instead he had a full beard that wasn't properly groomed, he had big, black circles under pale blue eyes that were rimmed red and his hair was straggly and greasy, like he hadn't bothered to wash it.

"Hermione," he said and Hermione smiled sadly, perching herself on a desk at the back of the classroom, looking up at the professor.

"It's good to have you back," she said.

"I wish I could say that it's good to be back," he said quietly, his gaze going around the room, "my room was filled with brightly coloured crap when I got here," Hermione couldn't help the chuckle that spilled from her lips.

"Yeah, that's Professor Daniel's doing."

"I'm not surprised, she is insane," he deadpanned, placing his hands on the stone banister and leaning his weight into them. His hands, Hermione noticed, had fresh cuts and scars across them.

"What is it that you wanted to see me for? You said in your letter that you were going to give me something?" Before she had finished speaking, Quinton had slipped a hand into the front pocket of his pale blue shirt and extracted what looked like a small key, He glanced at it once before throwing it to her and she caught it on reflex.

"Oh," she said quietly, looking at the small, silver key now in her palm. "What does it open?"

"Hermione, have you put a thought to life after Hogwarts?" Hermione looked up to see him walking down the stone steps, and she thought about the question.

Back home, in her own time she had thought about this a lot, about what she was going to do with her life…But here, she honestly hadn't seen past the hunt for Horcruxes, letting them consume her mind. Now that she thought about it, what _was_ she going to do?

"I thought you hadn't, so I did it for you. That key opens a house on the outskirts of London called Ivy Cottage. It's yours." He concluded, hopping onto the desk opposite her and Hermione could now see the lines of stress and worry that adorned his face and she saw the overwhelming sadness in his eyes.

"You're giving me a house?"

"Yeah." He said tiredly, running a hand down his face.

"Why?" She asked suspiciously, narrowing her eyes at him.

"Because, Hermione, what are you supposed to do after Hogwarts? Live on the street? Besides, I can' live there anymore, not after—" he stopped himself and coughed awkwardly, "you need somewhere to live in a few months and I need to get rid of the house. Win-win."

"Quinton, I can't accept this, this is to much-"

"Hermione, just take the house. I'll take you to go see it later today after lessons if you like?"

"Quinton, I can't leave Hogwarts." She said, though the offer to actually see the house stayed with her.

"You'll be fine – the wards on my house are strong and no Death Eaters have found me yet." She automatically opened her mouth to contradict him but stopped – he didn't know and he was right. Hailey technically wasn't a Death Eater, which must be another reason why they had used her – If Death Eaters couldn't enter the perimeter then maybe she should take the house…

"Wait, where are you supposed to live?" She asked, hoping that he wasn't going to live _with_ her, which would just be weird, but it was his house, so she couldn't really complain, although Sirius wouldn't really like it…

"Hermione, will you stop overanalyzing everything? I'm living with my brother for the time being, don't worry about it." Exhaustion leaked into his words and Hermione nodded, her curls bouncing around her head. "Good. I'll ask Dumbledore and we'll Floo there tonight – you can bring Sirius if you like," he yawned before stretching. "Now, tell me everything that happened in Hogsmeade."

* * *

The day seemed to drag for Hermione and when Divination came up, she groaned in exasperation. She couldn't believe that Dumbledore had made her take this lesson. Her and Rayne, who believed heartily in the subject walked briskly up the winding staircase – although, Rayne was more skipping then walking. They reached the ladder and Hermione sighed before climbing up it, Rayne humming behind her. Even though Rayne had been blasted back with her own curse and had suffered a severe concussion because of it, she still found the need to experiment. Hermione (and the others, of course) had tried to get her to stop, but she shrugged them off, saying that she wanted to create some spells rather then just learn them.

Once Hermione entered the stuffy room, she instantly spied Sirius and James at the rickety table that her, Ron and Harry had been so fond of sitting at and made a beeline towards them, Rayne choosing to sit with Kara behind them. Hermione dropped graciously into the seat beside Sirius and offered them both a smile, letting her bag drop from her shoulder to land on the floor with a resounding thud that everyone more or less ignored.

"Hey, beautiful," James greeted and Hermione blinked blankly at him.

"Hey, back off," Sirius said and for a second, Hermione thought he was being serious – until she saw the mischievous glint in his grey eyes.

"No! I want the world to know that I think Hermione Granger is a fair maiden!" James yelled dramatically, jumping onto the table, arms and legs spread and his head tipped back. Sirius concealed a chuckle before looking angry and pushing his chair back violently.

"You have Lily! Leave my girlfriend be," He said, taking his wand out of his robe and James mirrored his movement, jumping off the table dramatically, grinning like a maniac.

"Come on then, Black! To the death!" He cackled maniacally and him and Sirius circled the table, Hermione pushing her chair back and running to stand beside Rayne who was laughing hysterically.

"I bet Mr. Black wins," Hermione turned her head quickly to see Professor Daniels stood there, her white hair pulled up into a ponytail and she looked knowingly at the scene before her.

"Er…Yes, I agree – um, aren't you going to stop this?" Hermione asked, just as James sent a jet of bright yellow light and she gasped, closing her eyes before the spell could connect. When the class erupted into laughs, Hermione dared peek out and even she couldn't stop the laughter – Sirius' hair, which was once long and black was now in an afro style, curly as Hell and multi-coloured. The fact that Sirius didn't seem to notice was priceless.

"No, Miss Granger." Professor Daniel's chuckled, crossing her arms over her chest, her purple floaty top moving to expose her stomach and the silver ring in her bellybutton, "you see, after the horror that was Hogsmeade, these two will be the most welcomed with their antics – we need to laugh again." Hermione smiled at the witch and set her gaze to the 'battle'. Now that she knew that it wasn't serious, she could enjoy it for what it was – an attempt to cheer up the students of Hogwarts.

Sirius shot a blue spell at James and Hermione saw two stag antlers sprout from the top of his head and the weight pulled his head down, his head landing on the table. He couldn't hold his head up for the huge antlers and whenever he tried to, his legs wobbled and his knees buckled. Sirius was doubled over with laughter, his arms wrapped around his middle and he couldn't stop the laughs from deep within and he needed to lean against the circular desk to keep his balance. James, too, was laughing, before he pointed his wand at Sirius and muttered under his breath, and a bright green spell launched at Sirius, who would have easily dodged it if he hadn't been laughing so hard. He was knocked over by the force of the spell and flew across the classroom, over the students head and heading for the stacked up tea cups in the corner of the room, and Hermione could almost hear the crash and she braced herself for the impact, hoping it wouldn't hurt him to much when…the crash never came.

Beside her, Professor Daniels did a non-verbal spell, her wand swishing and Sirius halted in mid air, before landing gently on his feet. James antlers disappeared, shooting back into his head (which was one of the most bizarre things that Hermione had ever seen) and Sirius' fell to his shoulders once more.

"Right then! Time for the lesson! Mr. Black, I made a prediction that you would win and I was wrong so – you have homework. Oh, and because you almost smashed my tea cups." Sirius stared open mouthed at the teacher as she approached him before pushing him back to the rickety table, a look of disbelief on his face.

"That is not fair!" He called out and Hermione snuck up behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist.

"Come on, Sirius. Don't make it worse." Sirius huffed but turned in her grasp and slung his arm over her shoulder. "I hope you know, Daniels, that I'm going to do a half-assed job on this homework."

"Oh, don't worry, Mr. Black, I'm sure that you'll have time to complete it, at least." She chuckled under her breath and beside her, James sniggered. Hermione narrowed her eyes suspiciously and James shrugged, reaching for the crystal ball. Hermione wasn't happy about this reaction.

After class, they climbed down the wooden ladder one at a time and Hermione was relived that it was the last lesson of the day. If she had had to get to another lesson, she would have been very, very late.

"Hey guys, go on ahead, okay? I need to talk to Sirius," Hermione told her friends, lacing her fingers through his. He looked at her questioningly, and she shrugged, smiling at him.

"Ooooh!" They all chorused before laughing and heading off, James hitting Sirius on the shoulder sharply, rubbing the top of his head, both checking for antlers and messing up his already wind swept hair.

"What did you want to talk to me about?" Sirius asked, pulling her closer to his warmth and she smiled gratefully at him. She had forgotten her red scarf that Peter had gotten her for her birthday and it could get awfully draughty in the old castle.

"Erm, well, you see…" She wasn't quite sure how to word it exactly, which had never really been problematic to her before.

"You see, what?" He asked, winding his arms around her waist and pushing her back so that her back hit the stone cold wall behind her and she rested her hands automatically on his chest.

"Well…Errm…I kind of have a house," Sirius raised his eyebrows at her and Hermione flushed slightly, both at his proximity to her, which always effected her this way, and because of how stupid her words sounded.

"You have…a house?"

"Yeah, you see, Quinton gave it me – it was his and Hailey's house."

"Wait, so…you're going to live in the house where the woman who ratted you out to the Death Eaters lived? Something tells me that's a very bad idea Hermione," he said, a frown settling between his eyes.

"That's what I thought at first, but its wards are brilliant – no Death Eater has found the house yet and its under the Fidelious charm and he's the secret keeper. It's kind of perfect, really. Besides, where else am I supposed to go? I don't have family here, Sirius." The words were painful to say and she felt a pang at the loss of her family. They didn't know who she was really – they hadn't even met each other yet.

Sirius sighed and closed his eyes, letting his forehead fall against hers. "You could live with me?" He said weakly, but they both knew no matter how strongly they felt for each other, it wasn't the right move.

"No, Sirius. Besides, you live with the Potters – I don't think they'd appreciate me just moving in, you know?"

"I know," his breath fanned across her skin and she could smell peppermint on his breath. She smiled at him and he smiled back before leaning down and capturing her upturned lips in a kiss – one that she felt from her fingers to her toes and made her heart skip a couple of beats. Her brown eyes snapped open in surprise at the feeling and she'd felt Sirius' heart beat erratically underneath her hand – just form that one kiss.

In that moment, they shared a connection, one that she was glad wasn't interrupted and he moved first, pulling her into a tight hug, his breath moving across her temple while hers spanned across his collar bone.

"Wow." He whispered and Hermione agreed heartidly with him – just that one kiss had sent her senses out of direction which was something that she'd never experienced before. She'd heard her mother talking about it, that one kiss that sends your mind into a tizzy, but she'd always thought that she'd be in love when…

Love. She loved him. The thought was so sudden to her that she almost gasped but, the more she thought about it, the more sense it made – of course she loved him. Who couldn't? It wasn't even a quick love either – not really. She had known him since she was thirteen. No, it wasn't a surprise to her, but it was a shock to her logic system, to be in love with Sirius Black.

Her heart beat thumped harshly against her breast bone again and she knew in that moment that it was true.

Now…How was she to tell him?

* * *

After dinner, Hermione and Sirius went to Dumbledore's office to meet up with Quinton and Floo to Hermione's new home – she was almost itching to see it. Quinton was waiting outside for them; looking more haggard then he had done that morning and weary, like he would rather be anywhere other then here.

"Quinton," Hermione greeted and Sirius nodded in his direction. He felt sympathy for the man, but didn't know what to say to him.

"Well, let's go then." He pushed off the wall and whispered to the stone gargoyle, which came to life and jumped to the side, allowing them entrance to the winding staircase that they embarked upon, walking slowly up the stone steps. When they reached the top, Quinton reached out a slightly shaking hand and grasped the golden knocker with a phoenix head on it and knocked it three times, the sound echoing around them and Hermione instinctively moved closer to Sirius, who laughed at her under his breath.

"Come in, Quinton," Professor Dumbledore said and Quinton opened the door and stepped into the circular office followed by Hermione and Sirius, who were walking hand in hand – Hermione relished in the comfort and security that came with touching Sirius. "Right, Ivy Cottage, and if you're not back in the hour, I'm coming to get you – Ivy Cottage's fireplace will be turned off the second all three of you step through the threshold and Quinton will send a Patronus to me to tell me to open it again when you're done," Dumbledore said as he moved across the office, his burgundy robes sweeping about his ankles and he grasped the bag of Floo Powder off the mantle with his long, elegant fingers. "Quinton, go first."

Quinton reached into the bag and extracted a handful of the emerald powder and stooped so that he fit in the fireplace, taking a deep breath he dropped the powder and Hermione was practically blinded by the flames that engulfed him before he was gone with a cry and whoosh.

"Hermione." Dumbledore smiled and Hermione reluctantly let go of Sirius' hand and took her own handful. Like sand would, it ran through her fingers and moved in her grasp. She found that she didn't need to hunch to fit inside the fireplace and instead fit almost perfectly, the top of her head just brushing the mantelpiece as she stepped inside.

The inside was filled with black marble that almost acted like a mirror and she frowned at how many Hermione's were around her. "Ivy Cottage!" She cried and dropped the powder, the emerald flames not hurting as they tickled her skin and she tucked her elbows in just as she felt herself being propelled, as if she were on a roller coaster going down a 90 degree angle. Fireplaces whizzed by and she caught sight of a teenage girl with long, curly brown tumbling down her back, reading a book in front of her fireplace, a blanket tucked around her shoulders and a cat curled around her feet. She gasped in surprise at the sight of her mother before she turned violently to the left and she closed her eyes at the pain she felt – she'd never see them again.

Before her thoughts could take a turn for the worse, she was suddenly breathing clean air and found herself tumbling through air with a beige carpet under her nose before she was caught. She smiled gratefully at her Defence teacher just ass the fireplace flared to life again and Sirius was stood there, looking regal and uncompromised by the journey he had just been on and smiled widely at her before his eyes flickered around her, taking in the scene.

She turned and gasped – the living room was massive! There was a crème sofa before her, looking very inviting and seemed big enough to fit about five people. On either side there were crème armchairs and a oak coffee table in the middle acting as a centre piece. A bookcase lined the back wall and Hermione felt her jaw drop at the size of it – it was void of books, but Hermione was certain that she would fill it up.

"Kitchen's this way," Quinton grunted and Hermione knew that this was going to be a short tour. They stepped into the kitchen which was white and had oak cupboards above and below the counter and a stainless steel sink. An island sat in the middle and Hermione could envision herself chopping food at that table, Sirius behind her, his arms wrapped around her middle. "Dining rooms through here,"

"Wait, this place has a dining room?" Sirius asked beside her, his grey eyes landing on the floor, which Hermione noticed had white tiles.

"Yep. Dining room, Living room, kitchen, a master bedroom, four guest bedrooms, three bathrooms and a dressing room." He said, waving his hand dismissively and Hermione stared in wonder. Sirius was used to big houses – he'd grown up in Grimmauld place, which was Humungous, but Hermione being in a large house by herself was odd.

The dining room was just as elegant as the other two rooms, a huge oak table sat in the middle of a white room with black borders and black shapes on the wall – Hermione caught the sight of a butterfly on the wall before Quinton was walking away again. "There's stairs in the living room as well." Quinton said and set foot on the winding staircase. The steps were white and the banister was black and sleek and Hermione had an image of Mary Poppins travelling backwards up the banister.

When they got to the landing, Quinton faltered. "I think…I think you should continue yourself. Yes, I think so." Quinton turned and headed back down the stairs, his shoulders slumped over.

"Poor guy," Sirius said sadly. "But hey, at least I'll have some fun travelling down that banister," he giggled manly.

Hermione rolled her eyes and opened the first door she came to, which was a bedroom. Like the rest of the house, the upstairs was tastefully decorated and elegant and Hermione was unsure about living here again – yes, it was beautiful, but…Well, it was simply too much for her.

"Why don't you ask one of the girls to move in with you?" Sirius asked, moving into the master bedroom again. Unlike the rest of the house, this bedroom was actually red with hints of black here and there. Hermione went over his question and nodded to herself – She'd ask Lily, she was closest to her of everybody else. Hermione sat on the bedspread and stared at the black carpet, knowing that she wouldn't be sleeping in this room – if she slept in any room it would be the second guest room they'd seen; it had had a massive bookcase along the side wall and a balcony off the bay windows. Why that wasn't the master bedroom Hermione didn't know. Sirius sat beside her before letting his body fall backwards, his hands going to her ribs, pulling her down with him.

"Sirius, what are you-"

Before she could finish, a shadow fell across her and her brown eyes rolled into the back of her head, to look into the tormented eyes of Matt Corbin.

"_Hello, Hello, Hello. Oh, how much the Dark Lord will love me when I complete this task. Oh, Hermione Kingsley, what a pleasant surprise." He whispered, his lips tugging back and curling, exposing his rotten, yellow teeth. _

_Hermione could see shadows through the window, shadows of people fighting and yelling, before somebody threw their body at the door, where it buckled under their weight but stayed in place._

"_I don't know why they put a known Death Eater in St. Mungo's – the fact that I could escape seemed to fail their attention," with each word he was getting progressively closer and the smell of his breath overwhelmed Hermione's senses. _

"_Hermione!" Somebody yelled through the door and she knew it was Ron – why was he throwing himself at the door? Was he a wizard or not? _

"_Oh, you're little friends wont save you," he said, laughing, his fingers dancing over the cotton of the bedsheets she was encased in, her limbs trapped under the weight. Her breathing was picking up now and her eyes rolled in their sockets like a spooked horse. Why couldn't she breathe?_

"Quinton!" _Sirius…Sirius would help her. Sirius would save her, he would…_

_Her throat felt tight and she wheezed, the lights dancing before her eyes – where was Sirius? _

_She felt her bones grown heavy and she tried to struggle, to get away but she knew that it was useless; she could feel her limbs moving but a look down at her body showed her that she was barely stirring. All around her a beeping noise became persistent and the voice behind the door was fading out as her vision blurred. _

"_Come Josephine, my flying machine…And up she goes…Up she goes…" Matt Corbin sang beside casually, examining his nail beds without a care in the world. _

"Sirius! What happened?"

"I don't know! She's not breathing! Oh, God, Hermione, please…"

_She felt it, the minute the her breathing cut off entirely – it felt like she'd been plunged into a bucket of icy water, and everything went silent. She couldn't hear anything except for her own sluggish heartbeat. Matt Corbin grinned manically before the door burst open and hands were on her frantically, but she couldn't hear it. Her vision was getting blurry…This couldn't be it, how she died…No…Not yet. _

_She suddenly felt weary and her eyelids so very heavy. She allowed them to slip closed over her brown eyes and the heartbeat echoing in her ears came to a stop as everything around her faded to black and she felt nothing._

_A/N: So, what did you think of this chapter? Sorry it's taken me a while to update, I've been ill this week. _

_Oh, if you reviewed on the last chapter just know that I WILL reply - my e-mail's being really stupid lately, but I'll get it to work - Your review's mean a lot and if you've taken the time to review, I should take the time to reply. _

_Thankyou for reading!_

_Kelly_

_xxx_


	38. Reliving and a journey

**Disclaimer: **_I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters, except for my own. _

**Weight of the World**

**Chapter 38**

Sirius stared blankly at the wall, throwing a ball to the floor, watching as it bounced up at an angle, hit the pure white wall and launched back to him and he caught ball expertly in his hand.

He didn't care that he was sat on the floor, his legs splayed before him as he threw the ball again, this time with more force, he didn't care that his hair was unkempt and greasy, he didn't care that the tear marks were still visible on his face – he didn't care about any of that. The only thing that he cared about, the only person that he cared about – her heart had stopped beating. The realization went through him like physical pain and he shut his eyes tight, shoving his knuckles onto his eyelids, rubbing furiously. She was alive, her heart was beating again, but that knowledge didn't stop the tears…She had _died. _Been tore away from him and he didn't know how to cope – didn't know if he could. She was laid out on the bed beside him, breathing shallowly, her chest rising and falling with each breath and he was attuned to her – If her breath caught in her throat or he failed to hear her exhale, he would be there, ready to yell of Madame Pomfrey to save her.

If she didn't wake up soon she was being transferred to St. Mungo's. He wouldn't be able to see her if she got sent there and he didn't know if he could cope with that, not being able to see her everyday to make sure with his own two eyes that she was okay.

"Sirius, mate, don't you think you should get off the floor?" James said from his seat on the bed opposite Hermione, yawning into his hand.

"No." He said blankly, his throat hoarse from not using it for a few days properly. Come to think of it, he hadn't done much of anything; he turned away from food and sleep and James was the only person he'd really speak to. He refused to go to lessons and leave her side and he wasn't going to be able to do that stuck in a classroom. The teachers had fought him on it, demanded that he go to lessons, but Quinton stepped in, saying he wouldn't be able to do the work in classroom anyway, and they let it go. For now.

He threw the ball again, but with no force this time and he watched it roll across the floor, his thoughts jumping from one thought to the next – what was happening to her? Would she be permanently damaged by this? Why wouldn't she wake up?

The desperation he had felt when she stopped breathing settled into his stomach again and his throat seemed to close off for a millisecond as his brain sped up, relieving the events of when she collapsed…

_Sirius sat beside Hermione on the bed, falling backwards to the mattress, putting his hands on Hermione's waist and pulling her backwards with him so she laid beside him. _

"_Sirius, what are you –" she gasped, her eyes going wide before she went limp in his grasp. He recognized this, she was taking her journey back to the future…Which is one of the most weirdest things he'd ever thought. He held her closer, tucking her head in the nook between his neck and shoulder and allowed his eyes to close, her breath fanning against his throat. He'd love this, he thought, to go to sleep every night with her by his side. As he allowed his thoughts to stray to a future for them, her breath picked up, spanning harshly against his skin and his eyes opened in slight alarm. _

"_Hermione," he said, sitting up, his arm around her waist, bringing her up with him, her whole weight was leaning against him and he could feel her heart beating erratically from where it was pressed against his chest. "Hermione!" He barked, rolling her slightly and lowering her to the bed on her back and he was helpless to do anything. He leaned over, so that his cheek was hovering over her lips and he felt the puffs there, before they were abruptly cut off with a strange, choking noise. "No…No, no, no…Quinton!" He yelled frantically, placing two fingers against her pulse point in her neck and his ear against her chest, slightly relieved to feel her heart beating, however sluggishly it may seem. "Quinton!" He realised that his hands were shaking as he moved them away from her creamy skin, placing one hand on her cheek just as Quinton's body whipped around the black doorframe. _

"_Sirius! What happened?" Quinton said quickly, his eyes darting around the room before he stepped inside and Sirius knew that it had taken a lot for him to do that, but at that moment he didn't particularly care._

"_I don't know! She's not breathing! Oh, God, Hermione, please." He said desperately, his hand moving to her jaw and lifting her head up as beside him, Quinton took his wand from his jean pocket and pointed it upwards._

"_Expecto Patronum!" He bellowed and an owl soared from the tip of his wand. "Get Dumbledore and Madame Pomfrey here quick!" The owl hooted and took off, the tip of its silvery wing brushing the top of Sirius' head. "Sirius, Ipse." He said, counting off the number of heart beats in a minute. _

"_Huh?" Sirius asked, feeling utterly helpless as he looked over at Quinton. _

"_Listen, lean against the headboard – now!" Sirius did as he was told and together, they hoisted Hermione up so that she was leaning against Sirius' chest. "Take your wand and place it on her diaphragm." Sirius did so without question, holding Hermione tighter, one hand going up to her curls, carding his fingers through her locks. "It's a spell, Sirius, it'll help her breath."_

"_Ipse," Sirius whispered and watched as her chest moved up shallowly before down again. She wasn't breathing on her own, it was artificial, Sirius knew that, but he was so relieved that she was passing air through her gorgeous lips that he barely noticed the tear roll down his face and land in her crazy curls. _

"_Good, boy," Quinton praised, clasping a hand on his ankle quickly before the door opened and Dumbledore was stood there along with McGonagall and Madame Pomfrey and he sent a quick, silent pray up to God, begging them to safe her. _

_Before he could finish though, hands were on him, pulling him away from Hermione and he fought, fought hard against the restraints to get to Hermione's side. He struggled harder until arms wrapped around him, immobilizing him._

"_Shh, Sirius, let them do what they're doing."_

"_No! I wanna be there, Quinton, please…" He was bargaining, he knew that, he knew that he was coming across as pathetic and weak, not his usual cool, suave self at all. But Hermione wasn't breathing. The whole, not-using-your-lungs _dead_ kind of not breathing. Suddenly, breathing became hard for him to and soon he was gulping in air frantically, his chest tightening as if somebody had put a rubber band there, and it hurt like Hell. "Sirius, calm down, you're having a panic attack!" _

_His vision was going funny. His peripherals had gone black and what was visible was misted over with unshed tears. But he saw the looks exchanged by McGonagall and Pomfrey, before she shook her head sadly and looked at him, straight at him with such pity that he knew what had happened. _

_She was dead. _

_His legs could no longer support him and he dropped to the carpeted floor, his knees groaning under the impact but he didn't feel it. His body was numb, he realised as he couldn't feel Quinton behind him anymore, couldn't hear him as he talked. Everything about him was honed in on Hermione, who was laid on the bed, her hair spread around the pillow, eyes closed as if in sleep, but he knew she wasn't. He could feel it in his heart, buried deep within his soul that had just been torn to shreds at the sight of her, no longer breathing, her heart no longer beating. _

_He was sure that he would die to. _

Sirius couldn't remember much after that, just flashes of Hermione jolting on the bed, her back arching as if she'd been electrocuted, frantic words and relief that was so overwhelming he was pretty sure that he sobbed.

"Sirius, seriously…Don't you think it's time you came back with us?" Lily said hesitantly and Sirius could see the tear marks on her face.

"No," he said blankly again – he didn't even give it any thought.

"I'm sorry, Sirius, but it is for your own good. You need sleep, mate." James sighed, ruffling his hair and Sirius glanced at him to find a wand pointed at his nose. "Stupefy!" Before he could even begin to feel betrayed, his thoughts were cut off as his world went black.

* * *

Hermione's brown eyes fluttered open, her long, black lashes fluttering against her cheekbone as she struggled to pull her eyelids up and over her eyes. They felt so heavy. It hurt to breath, she summarized, trying to lift a hand up to place on her chest, but she couldn't move her hand. At this news, her breathing picked up and she found herself immobile, unable to move beneath the scratchy sheets. She tried to talk, but her vocal chords wouldn't work and her lips moved uselessly, no sound passing from them.

"Hey, hey, Hermione, calm down, it's okay. You're safe now." The voice was calm and soothing and one that she'd heard before and it always held the same tone – whether he was planning or teaching or talking or laughing or joking, he always held the same tone, comforting and relaxing.

She felt her lips tug up at the sides and she finally opened her eyes, to find herself staring into bright green eyes, surrounded by round, black glasses. A smile on his tired face was greeting her and the lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead was half covered by his messy black hair.

"Harry?"

_A/N: I know this chapter is incredibly short, but it's one of those annoying filler chapters that are needed to create suspense and what-not. But, because it is short, only three and a half pages, I'm gonna post the next chapter tomorrow, which is significantly longer. I just need to tweak certain aspects of it. Enjoy!_

_Kelly_

_xxx _


	39. A way back?

**Disclaimer: **_I don't own._

**Weight of the World **

**Chapter 39**

13th October 1997

"Harry?" Hermione gasped and while time slowed down as she was waking up, almost coming to a stand-still the second she looked into piercing green eyes, it now sped up, crashing around her ears like the tide crashing against the shore and she could move, her limbs flailing of their own accord under the sheets as she panicked. No, she can't be here – Sirius, where's Sirius?

"Sirius?" She calls, she doesn't understand, how can she be here? She was just in Quinton's house with Sirius beside her, lying on the bed. How did she get here?

"Take it easy, Hermione." Her eyes snap to the side and there's another familiar face, tall, gangly with a shock of red hair and Cerulean blue eyes wide in slight fear. Ron.

"Why? What?" She asked pathetically, aware that she was wasn't making sense, but her tongue wouldn't mould the words that she needed to say, so she was subjected to speaking in mono-syllables.

"You're in St. Mungo's, Hermione," Harry said soothingly, catching her wrists in his grasp, sliding his hands up to catch hers, hoping to comfort her and stop her thrashing. "A potion blew up in Potions – you've been unconscious ever since."

She was back in 1997. Or, 1998 now, she supposed. She should be happy to back, but instead she felt empty inside, like this wasn't were she was supposed to be.

"We're so glad to see you, Hermione," Ron said and Hermione smiled at him. Even though her heart was hurting, she couldn't help but be relieved at the sight of them – her two best friends who she had missed so much, her heart had ached when she thought of them. She weakly lifted her arms and they didn't hesitate, wrapping their arms around her and sitting her up so they could hold her properly. Harry's head was buried between her neck and shoulder, his arms wrapped tightly around her waist and she felt dampness on her skin and his body was shaking. Ron has his cheek laid on the top of her head, one arm around her shoulders, the other around her ribs, pulling her close.

"We thought…We didn't…" Harry mumbles against her skin and she shushes him, stroking his hair, pulling Ron close, comforting her boys. Her stupid, stubborn, pain-in-the-ass boys, and a part of her, a small tiny portion of her heart is so glad to be back.

* * *

It turns out that Hermione had actually only been unconscious for a month and she was surprised – time really slowed down here. To her it should be cold and shivery and you needed a scarf and gloves at all time, but it now, here it was warm, almost unbearably so at points. For hours Harry and Ron talked to her non-stop about the Horcrux hunt and the decline of the Wizarding world as Voldemort gained more power.

Behind them, somebody knocked on the door quietly before opening it slowly, twisting their head around the doorframe.

"Miss. Granger! What a pleasure to see you awake!" Hermione smiled at her head of house and Professor McGonagall entered the room, smiling at her favourite student. "When did she wake up?" She asked, settling on the edge of the bed and Ron glanced at her, the relief still on his face.

"This morning," Harry said, smiling widely at his best friend.

"Oh, good. How are you feeling?" She asked, placing her hand gently on Hermione's leg over the sheets, just below her knee.

"I feel okay," she said and it wasn't a lie. She missed Sirius something terrible, and she didn't know how she was going to cope without him, but she was doing okay, considering.

"Good. Right, I'll inform the school of your awakening – Potter, Weasley, you have ten minutes then I want you back at the school." She said sternly and stood up, brushing down her black robes. At once, Harry and Ron protested, their angry words mingling together making them indistinguishable to the women in the room.

McGonagall held up her hands in a sign of silence and both boys shut up at once, although they remained glowering. "It is not up to me, boys." She said sadly, "but it is what's best for you, especially you, Harry. Miss Granger will be perfectly safe here and that's the way it's going to stay." She looked at both boys in such a way that told them that that was the final say before heading back to the door, closing it quietly behind her on the way out.

"Well, at least we have a way to destroy the Horcruxes now," she said, referring to her time in 1977 where she didn't have a hope. Harry and Ron both raised their eyebrows at her.

"Do we?" Harry asked, looking sceptical. "And what would that be?"

"Err…The sword of Gryffindor." She said hesitantly, wondering where Harry's suddenly harsh attitude came from.

"Hermione, you know that the sword of Gryffindor doesn't work against Horcruxes." Ron said, shaking his head.

"Of course it does! When Harry stabbed the Basilisk it—"

"I'm sorry, when I what?" Harry laughed, "Hermione, what are you talking about?"

Hermione stared, bewildered at her best friends, who looked half-amused and half-concerned at her.

"Guys, the Chamber of Secrets?" Hermione said trying to jog their memories, but she knew that it was useless – they obviously didn't remember. Worry settled on their faces and Ron leaned foreword, placing his large hand gently on hers laid in the bed-sheets.

"Hermione, are you okay?"

"I'm fine!" She found herself snapping and she felt panic rise up her throat. How much had she changed the future? She realized that it was because she had taken the diary – it was probably still sitting in Dumbledore's office right now, and the ramifications of not finding anything to destroy it with was overwhelmingly frustrating.

"Well, we'd best go," Harry said, frowning at his watch, the sun moving around the clock face and it was dented.

"Yeah," Ron agreed, standing and stretching before moving to hug her, tighter then necessary and Harry followed suit.

"We'll see you tomorrow, Hermione," Harry promised and together they moved to the door.

"Harry, wait!" She called, holding her hand out towards them, begging them silently to stay and listen to her.

_Tell them, Hermione. Tell them what happened to you, where you've been – do it, Hermione!"_

"There's a Horcrux, Harry. In Professor Dumbledore's office, in his desk in one of the draws." Harry and Ron exchanged looks again and Hermione cursed herself for being so cowardly – why couldn't she just tell them?

"How do you know that?" There, right there, Ron just gave her opening. They'd believe her, of course they would. Just tell them and maybe they could help her find a way back…

"I just do," she said tiredly. They wouldn't help her, she realised. They'd want her to stay and help them because this was where she belonged.

They made a move as if to say something else to her, but the door opened behind them and a woman stepped in, one that she hadn't seen before.

"Come on, boys. Out." She said, flipping her head to the side, her long, brunette hair lashing out around her head.

"Oh, but, Ma'am, we were just involved in a very serious discussion about-" the woman shot him a look with her green eyes and Hermione knew that Harry and Ron had lost that round. "Fine," Harry muttered grumpily and stomped past her, looking very much like an overgrown child. Ron rolled his blue eyes and stepped out after him, sending a friendly, cheeky wink her way before the woman closed the door, leaving the two alone in the room.

"Why, if it isn't Hermione Kingsley." Hermione's head whipped up so fast she was surprised that she didn't get whiplash.

"What? No, you must be mistaken," she stammered out, wishing that she had her wand with her, but it had been given to her carers during her admission to the hospital and Hermione wasn't sure if it had gone to her parents or to Hogwarts.

"No, I'm pretty sure that I know the girl who I went to school with." She smiled and Hermione froze her fight or flight response beginning to kick in. "You don't recognize me, do you?" The woman asked, understanding blooming in her kind, green eyes and Hermione bashed down her instinct to fight, or scream because this woman didn't seem like a threat to her – she was almost recognisable. "Take a good, long look, kid." She said, spreading her arms in a welcoming gesture and Hermione let her brown eyes take in the woman before her.

She had on a grey suit jacket over a white blouse and a grey suit skirt. She had tanned skin and big green eyes surrounded by thick, black rimmed glasses that suited her elegant face. Her brunette hair went halfway down her back and her side fringe swept across her forehead. She still couldn't place the familiar face until she saw her shoes and suddenly everything slid into place, the bright orange shoes on her feet was a testament of that.

"Thoma?" She couldn't believe how normal her kooky friend looked.

"Ring-a-ding-ding! We have a winner!" She cried, perching on the edge of Hermione's bed, her legs crossed and Hermione couldn't help but notice how long her tanned legs were.

"But you look so…" Hermione wasn't sure how to finish the sentence without offending her and Thoma threw her head back and laughed.

"Boring." She filled in the gap, looking down at her outfit, her bottom lip jutting out in a fake pout. "Ah, this place sucks the colour out of life," Thoma commented before lifting a leg so that her orange shoes were fully noticeable and Hermione saw that the heel was actually bright pink. "Well, except for my shoes of course."

Hermione couldn't help the twitch at the corners of her mouth and she spied a glint on Thoma's ring finger.

"Oh, you got married!" She squealed, feeling for the world like an average teenage girl who talks to their friends about boys and weddings and if it wasn't for the pure white walls, the quiet beeping in the background and the fact that her friend was now 38 years old destroying the illusion, she would have actually believed it.

"Yeah, we all did. Every Gryffindor girl. Well, except for you." Thoma frowned and sighed, leaning back against the headboard. "You know, I didn't believe it was you at first, when they brought you in a month ago – how could I? Not until Matt Corbin tried to kill you the other day that I realised, I mean, besides the fact that you're Harry Potter's best friend, what use would he have killing a seventeen year old girl?" Thoma said tiredly, running a hand through her long hair.

"How come you're here anyway?" She asked, watching as Thoma pulled at a loose thread in the blanket.

"Oh, because I work here." She said with no emotion, "I'm the administrator for adolescents in this hospital."

"But…I'm not an adolescent. I'm eighteen."

"When they brought you in you were seventeen," Thoma corrected.

"Yeah, but I was still of adult age." Hermione grumbled.

"I know. Steven administered you, but as it happens, me and Steven talk all the time." The two lapsed into an uncomfortable, awkward silence for a while and Hermione was itching to ask her questions, but she wasn't sure how to phrase them or what Thoma's reaction would be.

"Are you up for a walk?" Thoma asked randomly, jumping from the bed almost keeling over in her bright, blinding shoes before smiling and hurrying to the door. Hermione stared blankly and wondered if her legs would actually hold her. Tentatively, she pushed back the covers, ignoring the paper gown that she was wearing and let her feet touch the clod floor. "Hurry up, Hermione, I don't have all day," Thoma said, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed and Hermione shot her a death glare one that said 'either come over here and help me or quit whining.' Thoma rolled her eyes and walked over to her, her heels clacking annoyingly against the tiled floor. She slid her arm under Hermione's arm and around her back and lifted with one giant heave. Hermione's head didn't even go up to her collarbone and she wondered how much taller she herself would get when she got older.

"And off we go, do-do-do-do. Do-do-do-do!" Thoma sang under her breath, and Hermione wondered if she was breaking her out of the Hospital with the song that she was singing, which Hermione vaguely recognized as The Great Escape.

"Where are we going?" She asked as they moved down the hall silently like shadows in the night, drawing no attention to them despite the occasional person walking down the hall towards them, heading in the opposite direction.

"To see somebody." Thoma answered vaguely and hurried into the elevator, holding the doors open for Hermione to hobble uncertainly into the golden plaited lift.

"Who?" Hermione pressed – she felt very exposed in her paper gown and her hair a mess around her head and she thought that she must resemble Medusa at this point.

"You'll see," Thoma said vaguely and Hermione growled in frustration and she was happy that there was nobody else in the lift with her. Beside her, Thoma had her hands clasped behind her back and was rocking backwards and forewords on her feet and Hermione marvelled at her ability to stay balanced once she rocked back onto the heels of her shoes.

The doors dinged open, startling Hermione slightly and she was pulled bodily from the lift and shoved unceremoniously into a room.

"Stop man-handling me!" Hermione said sharply before the lights came on in the room and she was distracted by what she saw. There, on the single bed placed in the middle of a powder blue room, a woman was laid. She was taking deep and even breaths and her eyelids were closed, obscuring her eyes from view as she slept on, oblivious to her surroundings. Her brown hair was neat and had been seen to; tumbling over her shoulders and the woman's eyebrows had been plucked to almost perfection. Her ivory skin was spotless and her complexion was perfect.

"You've never looked better, kid." Thoma said behind her and Hermione gaped, staring at her 38 year old self.

"What am I doing here?" They were two of her. The thought was almost unreal.

"Time didn't stop just because you were unconscious, you know. It carried on. After you were out for a week you were sent here. Sirius didn't like it." His name sent her heart beating furiously and a feeling coiled itself deep down in her soul, something that she thought she would never feel. Longing. She longed to see him again, to kiss him and hold him and fall asleep with him next to her.

"Sirius," the name slipped past her lips without her even thinking about it.

"Yeah. He was distraught. He came here everyday and I never even saw him look at another girl. He was just…Broken." Hermione felt her knees buckle at the thought of Sirius alone, hurt, never truly being happy. This couldn't be it; she couldn't have just…left him in such a horrible, painful way.

"And then of course he murdered James and Lily, so I lost all respect for that mangy—" Before Hermione could process what she was doing, she had pushed Thoma against the wall, her angry overlaying her senses and she was slightly surprised to hear herself growl.

"He never, ever did it! He didn't! It was Peter! Sirius would never, in his life betray his friends, his family!" She was horrified to find that she was crying and she slammed Thoma into the wall again, ignoring her slight whimper of pain. "Never! Peter did it! Sirius tracked down Peter and confronted him, but Peter blew up the whole street and turned into a rat, scuttling off down the sewers like the lowlife coward that he is! Do you understand?" Hermione sobbed, and Thoma looked at her, her eyes wide with fear and disbelief.

"Duly noted." She said with slight fear in her voice and Hermione dropped her hands from Thoma's suit jacket, one coning up to cover her mouth, maybe to stop the sobs that were cursing through her body.

"I wanna go home," she said quietly, the tears pouring out of her eyes, her vision blurred and unfocused.

"Well, we can contact your parents and they can –"

"No." Hermione interrupted her, moving closer to herself laid on the bed, "I wanna go _home._" Home where she was accepted by the girls; where she was involved in plans and invited to parties, where she loved someone. Someone who protected her, pushed her, caught her, held her, kissed her, surrounded her, comforted her, accepted her.

"I'll call Quinton. See what he can do," Thoma said and slipped out of the door, leaving Hermione alone with nothing but her thoughts and her comatose thoughts for company.

* * *

She knew that there was a chance that she could never go back, that this was it, but she didn't want to believe it until she was told that it was 100% impossible and that she'd have a better chance of seeing Voldemort wearing a coconut bikini and doing the Limbo before she could go back and if Quinton was going to be the one to tell her then so be it.

He was sat across the table from her; the little fold out one that stood in the corner of her own white washed room and was staring at her, like she wasn't quite real.

"Well?" She pestered, needing an answer and needing it now.

"Yes," he said simply, his blue eyes darting to the right before going back to her, his fingers weaved together, perched on-top of the table.

"I can go back?" She felt her hope fly off the radar for a second before Quinton lifted a finger, silencing her before she could continue.

"It is a possibility yes. Remember how you got there in the first place?" He asked and Hermione's mind flashed back to the incident in potions when Ron's potion blew up and transported her back in time.

"Yeah, of course I do." She said, shifting on her bed, subconsciously rolling her shoulders.

"Well, we can use it again," he said.

"Wait…Its' that simple?" She asked and Quinton rolled his eyes.

"No, Hermione. It's never that simple. Ron messed up the potion before your hair fell in and that combined with the concoction had sent you back in time. Its kind of a Time Turner works – each grain of 'sand' is a specific ingredient that combined with the others together and the right amount of spins will send the wearer back. Plus, with this potion, you wont necessarily go back to the time that you want, which is why it isn't used a method of time travel." Quinton explained calmly and Hermione felt her hopes drop again.

"So, I might not go to 1978 again?" She asked and Quinton shook his head sadly.

"Also, you won't have a conduit here anymore, which is why you were able to return because of your body here, tied still to this time. No more messages from Harry and Ron, no more outside knowledge."

"Alright, don't kick me while I'm down." Hermione mumbled, crossing her arms over her chest.

Quinton chuckled lightly and opened his mouth to say something, but he was interrupted when the door opened quietly and somebody slipped into the room. Another familiar face, Hermione thought as the figure of Severus Snape loomed over her, his hands clasped together in front of his body.

"When Hermione Granger walked up to that sorting hat seven years ago I knew in that instant it was you." He said calmly. "Hermione Kingsley, who had been in intensive care for the past thirteen years walked into Hogwarts fresh as a pitiful daisy," he spat the words out like poison and Hermione was suddenly reminded of why she had so much dislike for the potions professor and how much she preferred his younger, more tolerable self. The one that called her Hermione and didn't look at her with disgust when they sat down at the same table in the library.

"What is he doing here?" She asked, feeling braver then she actually was and when Severus narrowed his coal, black eyes at her, she felt a small pang of fear that she hadn't felt from him in months.

"I, Miss _Granger_ am here to make this potion of yours so that you can go back to la-la land." He said, sarcasm pouring from his voice and Hermione really wished that she were back home. "I assume that you know the risks involved with this potion?" He asked, producing a cauldron and some potions from God knows where and set them out on the little fold away table, producing a flame that hovered above the knotted wood, flickering, creating shadows.

"Yes." She had to take the chance – to get back to Sirius, she'd do anything.

"So…She could end up in like, the 50's?" Thoma asked from where she sat on the edge of Hermione's bed and Hermione had almost forgotten that she was even there – she was being unusually quiet.

"Miss Eastwood, she could end up in the 14th century," Snape said, measuring out ingredients, not looking away from his work.

"Hey – Sevvie, it's Mrs Young now," she said coyly, twisting the ring around her finger. "And that's a huge risk, Hermione." Thoma looked at her with compassion on her face, but Hermione ignored it. It was a huge risk, one that she probably shouldn't be taking but, at the minute, she couldn't care less.

"And how come she wont have a 'conduit' anymore," Thoma asked, standing up and brushing down her suit jacket, pulling the sleeves back down her arms.

"You say that like you've just read it off a Que-card," Quinton teased and Thoma frowned.

"Do I really sound forced?" She asked and Quinton laughed, wholly and joyfully. It sounded like he hadn't laughed in years.

"Because this is a different potion. The one that Weasley screwed up was a power potion, that would put the drinker into –"

"A deep sleep," Thoma finished and Severus raised her eyebrows at her. "Hey, I got an O in potions for a reason, you know," she said, sounding offended that she would be doubted and Hermione smiled as Severus rolled his eyes – it was weird to think of him as Professor now.

"Yes. Well, this one is different and will transport the user fully back in time but to which time, we don't know."

"But…I have a body in 1978. Couldn't that help my chances of going there?" Hermione asked, not wanting to admit that she was getting slightly confused.

"I have no idea, Miss Granger. I have never time travelled before." Severus said deadpan and it wad Hermione's turn to roll her eyes.

"Maybe you should. It's a hoot." Severus though, chose to ignore her comment and the room fell into silence as Severus carried on making the potion, not paying attention to the tension that was so thick that it could be cut with a severing charm.

"Okay." Severus said after twenty minutes and he dropped an ingredient into the cauldron and it spat green sparks. "Give me some of your hair," he said, holding his hand out to her and Hermione sat up, ready to pull out a hair when she felt something was off and her hand stopped, hovering over her curls. "Er…Now, Miss Granger,"

"Wait." She said and Severus groaned.

"Please don't tell me that you've changed your mind," he said coldly, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring at her.

"No, not at all it's just – I need to do something first." She said and the three adults in the room looked at each other, exchanging weary glances.

"And what, Miss Granger would that be?"

_A/N: I'm sorry – No Sirius! I hope that this clears things up a bit though and next chapter I promise will have Sirius in it – I swear on my cookie jar!_

_Thanks for reading! _

_Kelly_

_xxx_


	40. Saying Goodbye

**Disclaimer: **_I do not own any HP characters or anything HP related – I don't even own the OC's, they're pale imitations of my amazing friends or brother, in Quinton's case. _

**Weight of the World**

**Chapter 40**

"Go on, Hermione, me and Quinton will wait here for you," Thoma urged from behind her, pushing her in the direction of the two story house before her. A cookie-cutter home with a wrap around porch and white picket fence. This is the type of house where the family dined together, watched TV together and read together, curled up in the living room.

"I…Okay," she swallowed down her nervousness and took another step closer to the house before her, almost falling over in her heels. Well, in Thoma's heels, she had run to her own home and picked up some clothes for Hermione to wear so that she didn't have to make these stops in her almost see-through, white, papery medical gown.

She shakily walked up the path towards the door and climbed the white wooden steps to the porch before steeling her nerves and lifting up the welcome mat and picking up the spare key, inserting it into the lock and twisting it, listening for the click that told her it was open.

"Mum?" She called into the house, breathing in the smell of baking bread and cookies that had lingered around the house for years and the chatter that she had heard in the living room stopped immediately at her call. "Dad?" Her voice caught and she longed for her parents, whom she hadn't seen or spoken to in five months.

There was a thudding on the brown panelled floor before two faces appeared, looking haggard and so very tired, a pair of brown eyes and a pair of blue eyes looking at her before they immediately ran to her, wrapping her in their arms and pressing kisses on her head and face, and Hermione could feel the splashes of their tears on her skin, and she was sure that she was doing the same thing.

"Oh, Hermione, sweetie," Miranda said, pressing a harsh kiss to her temple. "You're okay. You're okay," she repeated over her sobs, relief poured into every syllable.

"Hermione," Hugo said beside her, pushing her hair from her face, gazing into brown eyes identical to his own. "What are you doing here?" He asked, smiling at her, the wrinkles in the corner of his eyes increasing as he did so.

"What do you mean, 'what are you doing here?' this is her home," Melinda said, glaring at her husband, who held his hands up in surrender.

"I meant, why aren't you in the hospital?" He backtracked and corrected himself, hoping to appease her mother who narrowed her gaze at him before going back to her daughter.

"Oh, baby, why aren't you in the hospital?" She asked and Hermione chuckled at her father's annoyed/amused expression behind her mothers back.

"I'm okay, mum." She promised reaching out a hand to wipe her tears away, but her mother got their first and Hermione gratefully leaned into the touch. She missed them so much and it physically broke her heart that she wouldn't see them again.

"Good. Now, do you want something to eat? You look starved!"

After a hearty meal and her parents looking at her every five minutes they were huddled in the living room, her parents curled on the sofa and Hermione sat in the floor, back pressed against their legs like when she was a little kid, staring at the TV that was switched off.

"I'm sorry," she said, finding it easier to say when she couldn't see them. "I'm so sorry."

"What for, sweetie?" Her father asked from behind her, placing his hand on top of her head and she closed her eyes at the touch.

"For not being a very good daughter," she said tearfully, and carried on before they could reassure her that it wasn't true, like any good, decent parent would. Like her own. "I'm not. Every summer, instead of staying with you, I went to the Weasley's because I couldn't bear to be away from magic. I let that world consume me and I forgot one of the most important things. Family is everything and nobody gets left behind." She couldn't see through the veil of tears and she sniffed, needing to get her bearings back to carry on. "I forgot how much I loved you." Her voice caught again at the end of it before hands on her shoulders forcibly spun her around.

"You were never a bad daughter." Her father said, determination written on his face, that showed Hermione just how much he meant his words and her stomach coiled, but with which emotion she wasn't quite sure.

"Hermione. We are so proud of you," her mothers voice shook and Hermione allowed her tears to fall, her hands shaking slightly as she embraced both her parents, moving up to her knees to fully hug them, her head between both her parents, blocking their view from the doorway leading into the room where Quinton and Thoma now stood, their wands pointed at the back of her parents heads.

She closed her eyes tightly and clutched her parents closer, kissing them both one last time before nodding slightly at the two in the doorway who looked at each other momentarily before jets of orange lights flew from their wand, twisting in a devious way before striking her parents and they went limp in her grasp.

"Hermione, come on now, good girl. Let's go," Thoma said, holding out her hand and Hermione grasped it, allowing Thoma to pull her into a tight hug moving her thorough the house to the porch where the porch swing sat and together they sat down on it, Hermione's head resting against Thoma's shoulder as she stroked her hair, her fingers getting tangled every now and then in Hermione's crazy hair as she cried silent tears, feeling horrible for what she had just done.

"You're sure they'll be okay?" She asked again, looking up at the hundreds of stars that not covered the sky.

"Yeah. 'Monica' and 'Wendell' will be in Australia before the week is up." She said sadly, "they don't have a daughter," Hermione felt pain at her words and couldn't help but cuddle further into Thoma's warmth, but wishing that it was Sirius holding her instead.

"Good," she whispered, letting her tears fall, knowing that bottling it up will only make things worse later on.

"Quinton is getting all your personal belongings. What do you want to do with them?" Thoma asked soothingly, making the porch swing rock slightly with her feet.

Hermione thought for a minute, before settling on the perfect thing. "Burn them." Thoma stopped, pushing her back to look in her brown eyes.

"Burn them? Hermione, I can't –"

"Please? This—This isn't my life anymore." Thoma looked into her eyes for a moment more, searching for something, searching for the determination and the belief that it was the thing Hermione wanted to do the most. She seemed to find it and she moved back to lean against the back of the swing again, letting Hermione curl back into her. "You're a mum, aren't you?" Hermione asked, curling her fingers into the blouse by her ribs.

"Yeah. I have two children – Sunny and Olivia," she told her and, instead of the Olivia questions that Hermione half-expected, she told her about them. About how Sunny Jay was the silent and brooding type at thirteen and Olivia was a bundle of hyper-active energy at eight, who also favoured bright colours and was asking to dye her naturally brunette hair purple when she was old enough.

"Sounds perfect," she said, letting a hint of a smile grace her face as she imagined them.

"It'd be perfect if Voldemort wasn't here," Thoma said and Hermione nodded, sending out a silent promise that she would try her best to make it so and the comforting squeeze she received meant that Thoma understood and believed her.

Two hours later and they were still sat on the Porch Swing and staring at the sky, so enthralled by the beautiful, breathtaking sight of the millions of stars and almost full moon that they almost didn't hear Quinton step onto the porch, closing the door quietly behind him, six big bin bags floating before him.

"You have a lot of stuff, Hermione." He said, wiping at his forehead and Hermione sat up, leaving Thoma's warmth and the icy wind bit into her skin instantaneously.

"Did you get everything?" She asked, not wanting a trace of herself to be left in her childhood home, for her parents sake.

"Yep," Quinton said, running a hand through his hand, "you might want this." He said, pulling a wand from his sleeves and Hermione recognized it instantly as her own.

"I didn't want to ask them for it – to bring magic into the conversation like I always do," she said sadly, letting her fingers grasp the wooden handle of her wand, feeling the power surge through her once her skin came into contact with it.

"You did good, Hermione," Thoma reassured her, smiling before standing and holding her hand out to her and Hermione felt like a child, accepting the hand and being hoisted up.

"You know what, Thoma? You're a good friend. But I miss your crazy hair," Hermione tried to put some light onto the subject, and it seemed to work and Thoma chuckled and flipped her head to the side, to move her fringe out of her eyes.

"Oh, me to, kid," she said, resting her hand on top of her head.

"Why do you call me that?" Hermione asked, frowning slightly.

"Because you are a kid," Thoma grinned, messing up her hair before heading down the stairs, following Quinton and his floating bin bags.

"Hermione, what are we doing with this stuff?" Quinton asked, gesturing towards the stuff floating and Hermione sighed, looking at Thoma to fill in the blanks.

"Burn them."

They stood, around the pile of conjured logs, in a field past the park where Hermione father used to take her as a child as they each poured the contents of a bin bag over the logs. The bin bags had been charmed to hold more then they appear and Hermione watched as childhood toys, pictures, books with her name in, clothes, the furniture in her room minimized fell onto the logs, ready to burn.

"Are you sure?" Quinton asked again as the last bag was emptied "this is your childhood," Hermione pointed her wand at the assortment of her life and watched as the flames flew from her wand, striking the miniature wardrobe and igniting, the rest of it going up in flames and Hermione stared at a picture of her and her parents from when she was twelve stood outside the Eiffel tower burn as the flames licked against the image, blackening it as it curled in on itself, destroyed forever.

"Is that it or do you want to do some more?" Thoma asked, placing her hand gently on Hermione's shoulder, her hand disappearing into the curls.

"No, I need to say goodbye to someone else as well." She said, feeling very, very numb.

"Do you think that you're up for it?" Quinton asked, the flames being reflected in his glasses.

"I don't have a choice," she said softly and together, they walked away from the fire, Hermione refusing to look back as her past went up in flames and smoke.

* * *

They walked up to the huge sets of iron gates and Thoma spent a lot of the walk complaining about the mud and Hermione had to admit she was inclined to agree with her, her own bright blue heels sinking into the mud as well making it very difficult to walk properly and, if it wasn't for the sparkly straps across her foot and around her ankle, her shoes would have been long gone. They had apparated to Hogsmeade and proceeded on foot there, although Hermione wasn't sure what to do once they got to heavy iron gates that were charmed against intruders.

"What now?" Thoma asked, clutching the bars in her hands and shaking violently, although all she got for her troubles were burnt palms.

"Expecto Patronum!" Quinton yelled beside her and a silvery owl flew from the tip of his wand, hooting once before moving easily through the bars and the three watched as it flew until it became a pin-prick of light in the distance.

"Who exactly are you sending that to?" Thoma asked, making a move to clutch the bars again, but thought better of it and wrapped her arms around herself instead, almost like she was hugging herself.

"McGonagall," he answered and Thoma rolled her eyes at her former DADA teacher and jumped from foot to foot to stop herself from sinking.

Eventually, they saw a beacon of light in the distance, a yellow light that got brighter as it got closer, but the person behind it was in shadow until they got right up to the gate, disapproval painted on her features.

"What is the meaning of this?" She hissed, grabbing her wand. "You are aware of what time it is, right? And that Miss Granger should be at St. Mungo's?"

"Yes, Minerva, we know," Quinton said absently just as the gates creaked open and the three of them dashed in, Thoma shutting it behind them with a clang.

"Why are you here?" McGonagall demanded an answer from them and they looked at each other before deciding the best policy was simply the truth.

"To say goodbye." Hermione said sadly, hanging her head low as she trudged after them and Thoma wrapped her arm comfortingly around her shoulders.

"Ah. So, you are Miss Kingsley. You know, when you first saw you I thought my mind was playing tricks on me," she said conversationally and then it was quiet until they got to the Entrance of Hogwarts.

"Okay. We'll wait here. Be quick, Snape won't wait forever, honey," Thoma warned her and Hermione nodded briskly, following the familiar path to the Gryffindor common room that she would hopefully be walking again soon, this time with Sirius by her side, his arm thrown casually over her shoulder and that coy grin on his face, like he was planning something that only he knew about.

Before she knew it, she was at the picture of the Fat Lady, who was snoozing softly in her portrait. Feeling horrid to disrupt her sleep, but needing to, to get inside, she coughed lightly, just loud enough to be heard and the Fat Lady raised her head slowly, glaring daggers at Hermione for waking her up during the early hours of the morning.

"Password?" she asked tightly and she thanked her lucky stars that Ron and Harry had told her what it was earlier.

"Dumbledore," she said and the Lady bowed, moving her arm across in a sweeping motion as the portrait swung foreword from the wall, its golden frame creaking slightly as it permitted her entrance.

She went in quickly and scurried up the stairs to the boys dorms, finding the door marked seventh years and pushing it open, hearing Ron's loud snores the second that she stepped into the room. Every boy had jolted awake when Hermione flicked her wand, the candles all around the room igniting and they looked at her with sleepy expressions before coming to their senses and jumping up, happy to see.

"Alright, 'Ermione?" Seamus asked, giving her a quick hug, his Irish accent as thick and heavy as it ever was as Dean appeared by her side and smiled at her encouragingly, placing his large hand on her dainty shoulder, his dark skin contrasting with her creamy, ivory skin.

"Hermione!" Neville yelled and charged at her, Seamus and Dean moving aside quickly as Neville wrapped his arms around her and squeezed her tight, almost cutting off the circulation. She still returned the hug though, knowing that it could be the last one she ever gave the clumsy boy.

"Would you mind leaving us alone for a minute?" Hermione asked the three boys and they nodded, yawning and rubbing their eyes, before traipsing off to the Common Room and waiting for her to leave so they can get back in their warm, snugly beds.

"What is it, Hermione?" Harry asked. The two boys had stayed in their beds at her arrival, avoiding the stampede from the others as they greeted her and now they were sat on their beds, looking at her with both concern and happiness shining in their eyes.

"Did you get the Horcrux from Dumbledore's office?" She asked, leaning against the post of Ron's bed.

"Oh," Harry leaned over the side of his bed and rummaged beneath it and emerged again, holding the diary in his hands. It was twisted and curled in on itself with a huge, burnt out hole in the centre and residues of ink still on the pages. "It was like this when we found it. All mangeled."

"Wow…They find a way," she said under her voice before locking her gaze with the two boys and taking a deep breath. "I have something really important to tell you…Can I sit down?" She asked, gesturing to Harry's bed and he shifted over immediately, creating more room on the already roomy bed.

The whole story came out – everything. She couldn't stop the words from spilling past her lips and as the story went on, about where she'd been, what she'd been doing, where she was now going, she sped up, trying to get it all out before they could interrupt and disturb the flow that she had to the story, needing them to know because she was never really going to see them again – not like this, as best friends with sleepy faces and trust in their eyes, unguarded before her.

When she was done, she wasn't surprised at all to see that the two had shocked looks on their faces and were staring at her with something akin to horror.

"Hermione…You're going back?" Harry asked and his voice went up at the end, sounding strangled and forced and Hermione closed her eyes, nodding her head.

"Why?" That was from Ron and he was reacting the way that Hermione thought that he would. He was angry.

"Because, if I go back then I can get the Horcruxes then and make the world safer for us…Harry, I could maybe save your parents and give you a family," she said, placing her hand gently on Harry's wrist and it was a testament to their friendship that he didn't pull away, instead flipping his hand over and sliding it up in her grasp until their hands were locked together.

"You're not thinking about this logically," Ron said, jumping up and pacing backwards and forewords across the floor, his footfalls being padded every so often when he passed over the Chudley Cannon mat that was spread out between the two beds. "You might not go back there, is it worth the risk?" He asked, not meeting her gaze, continuing to move across the floor.

"It's worth a shot, right?" She said, smiling lightly, but not really feeling it. She knew that she wasn't thinking this through logically, that for once Hermione was letting her emotions rule her mind, but she wasn't feeling any doubt about it. She needed to have trust that she would be sent back to 1978 and that's where she was meant to be.

"Hermione, please think about this. We need you here, with us. We can't do this Horcrux hunt by ourselves—"

"Ron, if I go back and destroy all the Horcruxes, then you won't need me here." Hermione explained calmly, but Ron didn't seem to hear her properly.

"But, what about when time catches up with you? What about that? When you've destroyed it all and you go back in time again in Potions, if that plays out the same anyway, and a Hermione who grew up with no Voldemort to worry about is suddenly thrust into a world where Voldemort and Horcruxes roam. She won't know about them, not destroy them and we'll wind up in the same boat anyway!" He said and Hermione rolled her eyes – did he honestly think that she didn't know about that?

"Ron, I've already considered this," she said slowly, trying not to loose her temper with Ron, not now, not here. "When that happens, and it will happen, Professor Dumbledore will tell her everything. Things will play out slightly differently, but still the same at the end of it all."

"But how do you know that?" Ron asked, grabbing his red hair in his hands, and Hermione saw that his eyes were slightly red-rimmed.

"Ron, mate, maybe you should—" Harry started, but Ron interrupted him with his own outburst.

"Maybe I shouldn't do anything! Maybe we should work together to try and get Hermione to stay here! With us!" He yelled and lowered his head so he was avoiding eye contact and Hermione saw his features flush from where she was sat. "With me," he finished weakly and Hermione felt a pang of regret at the relationship never had Ron was now lost.

"Harry, could you give us a sec?" She asked, squeezing his hand and he nodded, letting go of her hand and heading to the door, looking back over his shoulder once before disappearing down the hall, the door clicking shut behind him.

"Ron." She started, trying to find some reassuring words, but all her thoughts were lost when she gazed into his deep blue eyes, wet with tears still unshed as he gazed down at her form.

"Did you ever feel it? Or was it just me?" He asked sadly, and a tear slid down his cheek. She reached up to brush it away with her thumb, cupping his cheek and jaw in her hand and he closed his eyes, allowing another tear to fall, leaning into her touch.

"It was always you, Ron. From the little boy who called me a nightmare to the one who blamed me for his rat dying and the man stood before me today. It was never just you who had those feelings Ron and it was never about Viktor or Cormac or Lavender." His words seemed to trigger something in Ron and he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her into the protectiveness of her body, laying her cheek on his chest as he placed his chin on top of her head and she could feel his body shaking slightly as he cried and she could feel his pain, pouring from him in waves, effecting her and making her cry worse then she already was. She was really going to do it, Hermione thought as the door opened and Harry came in. She untangled her self from Ron with difficulty and hugged Harry, who was no-where near as tall and her head rested comfortably on his shoulder. She was actually going to leave them. She wasn't quite sure how she could do that, but she was going to.

"We love you, Hermione," Harry said through his own tears and she hugged him back tightly before stepping away, holding her arm out to Ron who was there in a second, tears still falling from his eyes.

"I love you, too. So much," she said truthfully, her heart bursting with her feelings for these boys and she hated leaving them, hated it so much, but it had to be done. To protect them, it had to be done.

* * *

"Again…Are you sure?" Severus asked, holding her hair over the yellowish potion and Hermione sighed, closing her eyes, feeling her boys on either side of her, clutching her hands. They shouldn't really be in St. Mungo's at this time of…morning, but Thoma said she'd stay quiet about it if they did and they readily agreed. It was comforting, Hermione thought, her best friends accepting her decision and staying with her, taking that final leap with her, even if they wouldn't make it. That's what friends were for.

"Yes," she said, looking directly into his eyes, showing him the conviction there. He nodded and his gaze flew back to the cauldron and he un-wrapped his fingers from the hairs within his clutches and they fell gently to the cauldron below.

Everyone waited with baited breath as the hair fell and Hermione thought that the hair was taking a long time to fall, maybe giving her a way out and she mused about how her hair would know this (this was just terrified babbling that her brain supplied for her, so that she didn't have time to regret doing this) when the five pieces of hair landed in the potion, floating for a second before sinking, the potion turning a bright, vibrant red.

Five pairs of eyes swung up to look at her at the same time and she frowned when she realised that she was still here, in the present day and she felt her gaze hardening as it settled on Severus.

"Why isn't anything happ—" she didn't finish her sentence when she realised that Harry and Ron weren't holding her hands anymore and she looked down to see that they were still indeed in her grasp. She realised that everything was fading out, very, very slowly, shimmering as if she were looking at a pool of water and a light breeze was disturbing its slumber just so. She felt…Odd, the hairs on the back of her neck standing on end as if there was somebody stood behind her, lurking in the shadows and she subconsciously looked over her shoulder, gasping at what she saw.

She was looking in the Hospital wing, that side of the room totally transformed and she felt like she was looking in a portal to a different world. She was laid out on a bed, her eyes moving erratically under the eye lids and Sirius was laid next to her, gazing at the ceiling, his grey eyes unfocused and one hand settling on her wrist, his thumb soothing stroking the underside. One look at him and she knew that this was where she belonged. She hesitantly let go of Ron and Harry's hands and kissed them each on the cheek, watching as they faded a bit more and Hermione could see the beginnings of the other side of the Hospital Wing begin to emerge through them.

She stepped away slowly, walking towards Sirius on the bed, the pull of him to much to ignore and she soon found herself at the side of the bed, looking into his eyes and she realised just how much she missed him, the relief at seeing him almost palpable and she reached a hand foreword to stroke his cheek and his grey eyes snapped in her direction, startling her.

He stared at her for a minute before groaning and rolling over to face her on the bed and Hermione and began talking to her, not really making much sense but she saw the tension in his back and shoulders as he rolled over and saw that the T-shirt he wore, which fit him perfectly before, was now slightly baggy. His hair hadn't been taken care of and neither had his skin and he didn't smell too good, reminding Hermione all too much of the Sirius who had escaped Azkaban.

He obviously couldn't see her, that much was obvious and she rounded the bed to her side, wondering if this was it – yes, she'd come back to 1978, but would she stay this way, as a ghost? She looked over to see Ron and Harry but they were gone now, instead she saw a row of beds, one separated by a curtain and tall, arched windows around the room, reminding Hermione of a fortress.

She sighed and moved closer to the bed, her hand lightly brushing her foot through the fabric and she gasped at the pull in her navel, just below her bellybutton, much like a portkey before she was sucked into her own body, which felt like she was being liquefied but still solid at the same time, which was pretty much something she wished never to experience again.

It was dark, she realised vaguely, and her eyelids were shut. She was just stood over her own body with Sirius beside her and now, what she was asleep? Well, that made no sense. As her body began to awaken, she was aware of something heavy on her chest in a claustrophobic way, and something around her ribs, and she felt very constricted. She went to say something and move what was laid on her and her hand moved up and met long hair, feeling un-brushed and uncared for, but before she could figure out what it was or who it was, it was gone and she took a deep breath of air just as her brown eyes opened and looked into grey ones which were bright with relief before kisses were being pressed over her entire face, her forehead, cheeks, nose, chin, jaw, lips, quick ones and Hermione smiled, returning his kisses whenever she could, and he was laughing and crying all at once and she could taste his tears on his skin as she weakly wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer.

He shouted for Madame Pomfrey between his frantic kisses and she appeared at his side, holding out a vial of purple liquid out to her, which Sirius reached for and sat up, breaking her hold on him and she pouted, wanting him to be closer. Instead, his body slumped sideways and he shimmed up, so he was sat beside her and his arm wound over her shoulders, pulling her close so that her head rested against his own shoulder and pressed the potion to her lips and she didn't have time to be slightly mortified that he was technically feeding her before the taste hit her and she gagged, realising half-a-second to late that she was going to be sick, the bile raising in her throat and she felt embarrassment burn at the thought she was going to be sick on herself and Sirius before she felt her world tilt on its axis and a bucket was underneath her, Sirius supporting her forehead with one hand and holding her hair back with the other, shushing her as she felt the searing burn of her own vomit burning her throat.

"Shush, Hermione, you're okay, sweetheart. Thank Merlin, you're okay…" Sirius' quiet murmurings started to fade out, but his presence was still there and she believed his words, she believed them because they were true.

She was home.


	41. A Moment of Clarity

**Disclaimer: **_I don't own. _

**Weight of the World **

**Chapter 41**

When Hermione opened her eyes she smiled at the sight of Sirius resting beside her, as beautiful as ever. She smirked at the thought of his reaction to her thinking these things of him, and he would say, quite loudly that he was not beautiful and 'handsome' would be a much better description of him. Handsome? Most definitely. But Beautiful was something different and it described him perfectly, from his long, black hair to his perfectly straight nose and defined jaw line, he _was _beautiful, and no amount of grumbling on his part would change that much known fact.

"Stop watching me sleep, Hermione," he rasped, his eyes still closed and Hermione smiled, moving her hand up to cup his neck, her thumb resting just below his ear.

"Good morning," she whispered, her throat still hurting from her earlier bout of sickness and Sirius sighed, his arm winding around her waist pulling her close.

"Morning." He said simply, opening one eye and smiling lazily at her before closing it again, seemingly going to sleep again – it was the early hours of the morning.

"Sirius, I—" _love you…I love you…_Instead, the tell-tale signs flared up again and she struggled against his hold, trying to move away and Sirius seemed to understand perfectly, helping her move her body around and over the bed, so her head was hanging over the edge and Sirius was behind her, bracing her, pushing her hair from her face as a wave of nausea collapsed over her, expelling the meagre contents of her already empty stomach. She felt her muscles pull as her body tensed and Sirius shushed her, kneeling beside her and rubbing her belly through the sheet around her body, placing a kiss at the back of her neck.

"Just get it all out, sweetheart," he said soothingly, his lips moving against her skin and she heaved again, her muscles pulling painfully in her lower abdomen. She hadn't thrown up in years and how painful it was all came rushing back and Hermione groaned at how pathetic she probably looked now as more vomit rushed up her throat. "Wow, travelling from the future really takes it out of you," Sirius said lightly, trying to make a joke out of it as he hand slid from between her and the bed and around her ribs to rest between her shoulder blades, rubbing soothingly.

"Woah…You're looking a little green there, Hermione." Hermione glanced up to see James at the door to the Hospital wing, his arms crossed over his chest as he took in the sight before him, his lips turned down at the corners in distaste.

How much had he heard? Hermione thought, panicking and the panic brought foreword more sick, and the sound as it hit the bucket made her feel even more sick, as did the putrid smell rising from beneath her head, entering her nose and testing her sense of smell. She was aware that tears were also being expelled from her body with the force of her heaves, but she paid them no heed as the rolled down her face.

"Bugger off, James," Sirius said, but Hermione could hear the smile in her voice before she threw up again and her body went lax and limp in Sirius grasp. "All done?" He asked concernedly, waiting for her confirmation before helping her sit up, handing her a glass of water on the nightstand and watching as she took small sips.

"Thanks," she gasped, rubbing her chest with one hand as Sirius grasped the other one, interlacing their fingers and letting them fall down to the bed, the silver ring on his right ring finger digging into her flesh, but she didn't really mind.

"So, how are we this morning?" James asked patronizingly and Hermione glared at him just as Lily breezed through the door, a huge smile on her face at seeing her friend awake.

"Oh, Hermione!" She rushed to her and almost knocked over the bucket and she looked down at it, blanched, and made it vanish with a simple flick of her wand. She enveloped Hermione in her arms, pushing Sirius away and chattering nonsensical about what had happened and how much she had been missed by everybody. Hermione returned her hug and listened to her chatter with a smile on her face as Sirius and James wondered to the other side of the Hospital Wing, talking together in whispers so as not to disturb the girl's discussion, which Hermione greatly appreciated. "We were all worried, Hermione." Lily told her, pulling away and taking her hand.

"How is everyone?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, we're all right." Lily informed her, "Kara and Summer are still going strong, but Thoma and Matthew are going through a rocky patch."

"Ah, they'll make it," Hermione said, remembering the glint in Thoma's eyes in 1997 when she talked about her husband.

"I'm not so sure…"

"I bet you, they will." Hermione said around a yawn and Lily giggled.

"How much you willing to part with, Kingsley?" Lily asked, laughing.

"Hmm…Say, 5 galleons?" Hermione set the wager, knowing that it was one that she was going to win.

"I'll take that bet!" Lily said and shook Hermione's hand liberally. "Hermione…Hermione, your hands are shaking, are you okay?" She asked with concern and Hermione looked down at her hands to see that they were indeed shaking and she suddenly felt very vulnerable. Before she knew what was happening, her whole body began to shake with tremors and her vision blurred. "Hermione?" Lily asked, hesitantly reaching a hand for Hermione's shoulder, but retracted it when Hermione involuntarily twitched. "Madame Pomfrey!" She called as Hermione's muscles seized and she convulsed, thrashing on the bed as pain took over as flashes of images appeared before her eyes, mapping out a story.

_A short man was hurrying down a dark, winding street, his hood pulled up over his head, obscuring his features from view, his wand grasped tightly in his hands. He kept looking around frantically as he moved, breathing harshly. He stopped when he got to a dilapidated house and carefully stepped towards it, raising his wand as he did so before carefully pushing open the decrepit door, the creak sounding very loud in the echoing house. _

_He stepped in, quickly checking the four corners of the room he'd stepped into before venturing further in, when a gust of wind blew threw the house, making the door fly back into the wall with a crash and then slam closed. The man turned quickly, his hood falling off his head to reveal watery, beady eyes, pointed nose and scruffy light brown hair. _

_There was a bang from above him and he cautiously pressed himself flat to the wall, listening as the floorboards above him creaked. He glanced at the door and very slowly and very quietly made his way towards it, reaching out a hand for the doorknob, twisting it and tugging on it, but the door would not budge. _

_The person who was above him was at the stairs now and they creaked and groaned under the person's weight. He tugged on the door one more time but he knew it was useless. Before he could move, a hand fell onto his shoulder and spun him around, shoving him into the wall. Before he could hold his wand up to shout a curse, his wrist was grasped and slammed against the door frame and the smooth wand fell from his grasp. He struggled, not paying attention to who it was that had him down, just that he needed to get away. _

"_Peter, will you stop? It's me! It's just me!" He did momentarily, taking in the woman's features and relaxed, sighing. _

"_Did you have to do that? What do you want anyways?" He asked and she let him go, moving to lean against the wall beside him and he massaged his wrists but kept one eye on her frame as the blood red dress moved, whispering against her creamy skin. She crossed her arms under her breasts and placed the sole of her red high heeled shoe against the wall behind her, her knee and thigh slipping past the slit in her dress. Peters' eyes were glued._

"_To give you some information," she practically purred, leaning foreword. _

"_And er…What would that be?" His voice was growing heavy and he looked into her eyes. So beautiful, he thought. So very beautiful…_

"_Sirius and James told me in the pub yesterday that you were just…What did they call you? Oh, yes…A pawn." Peter flinched at the words and shifted his gaze to just over his shoulder, his face hardening. _

"_I don't believe you," he said with conviction. _

"_Neither would I if I hadn't heard it for myself. Peter, honey…It's true, you know it is, you've always known. I'm telling you know so that you won't get hurt later. After all, in war the pawns get sent out first." Her husky voice said as she moved closer, pressing her body into his. She licked her red lips and looked into his eyes before descending on them, sucking his tongue into her own mouth, feeding him a passionate kiss. "Join me, Peter. Join us, and you will not be a pawn," she whispered, pressing kisses along his jaw and neck as her leg hiked around his waist, pulling him closer. "Join us, honey…" _

_

* * *

"And that's it," Hermione said, tapping her finger on the hardwood desk before her. "That's what I saw."_

"Right. So, you're saying you had a vision?" Quinton asked sceptically, one eyebrow travelling up his forehead.

"Pfft, no." Hermione still didn't believe in visions and Divination and rolled her eyes at the thought. "I don't believe it was a vision."

"But you just said you saw Peter as an adult, that's in the future. You just sat there and told me that –"

"Quinton, be quiet." Hermione interrupted, rubbing her forehead with her forefinger and thumb, trying to subdue the sudden headache that erupted between her eyes. "Can we make this quick? I have to go meet Sirius in a few minutes." She informed him, glancing at the ticking clock in the corner.

"After you explain how the vision you had was not a vision. And speaking of Sirius, did you have to tell me that stuff at the beginning? About him being beautiful?" He asked, pushing his chair back from his desk and kicking his feet up, putting them on the oak wood and leaning back, crossing his arms behind his head. Hermione had to admit that he looked a lot better then when she last saw him. He was now freshly shaven and the bags that were under his eyes were minimal now, only just barely noticeable if you looked closely enough. His teaching was back on track as well, his lessons still challenging and fun while still being serious.

"Well it's true!" Hermione said, smiling at her friend who rolled his blue eyes at her.

"Be that as it may, Hermione, keep you and Sirius to yourself, okay?" He said and Hermione laughed. She was just so happy to be back and to be with him that she didn't think people wouldn't appreciate it when she mentioned him, which she had to admit, was a fair bit.

"Fine." She relented and leaned back in her own chair. "After I was "discharged" from the Hospital wing, I went to the –"

"Library. Why am I not surprised? I suppose Sirius was with you as well?" He chimed in and Hermione shushed him.

"Yes, he was. Well, he stood outside the door, he's convinced that he's allergic to the library," Hermione rolled her eyes at her boyfriends attitude before carrying on with her story. "The potion that Snape gave me to send me back has some side effects, such as throwing up, violent tremors, panic, these I all experienced but also…A moment of clarity. I think that's why he used that specific potion for me. That moment of clarity told me something very important, Quinton."

Quinton blinked at her before dropping his feet and scratching the back of his head, looking at her curiously. "Right…What was that?"

"I don't think Peter was swayed by a Slytherin or a known Death Eater," she said, chewing on her thumbnail. "I mean, the Slytherin's have been trying to get him to betray the Marauders for over a year now and he's still faithful to his friends because –"

"He doesn't believe them." Quinton said in realisation, his eyes wide in understanding. "Of course! Pettigrew wouldn't have the guts to betray them by himself and he wouldn't believe somebody who's bound to lie, like a Slytherin or a Death Eater – it has to be somebody who he trusts!" Quinton banged his fist on the table and Hermione raised her eyebrows at the man.

"Yeah. That's what I was being told in my non-vision." Hermione said as she stood and stretched her arms. "I'm off."

"Wait, you're just gonna leave! Why, we can figure out who this woman is and, when the time comes to it, stop her!" Quinton said excitedly, standing and Hermione could see his finger tapping, itching to figure it out, but Hermione wasn't in the mood at the minute.

She'd been back for a week after going back to the future, to say goodbye. While staying at Hogwarts, she was going to make the most of her childhood because this was her only one. She was no longer bound to 1997 and this was where she was going to stay. She wasn't going to get any more clues and, right now, she just wanted to be with Sirius.

"I don't know who she was. She was very, very blurry. All I can tell you is that she has an amazing body and dark hair." She said, moving towards to door to the office. "You can stay here and try to dissect it, but I have a date." She smiled at him before leaving the room, the door closing behind her with a bang.

She pulled the sleeves of her red jumper down her arms and over her hands before skipping off (not literally of course – Hermione may be ecstatic to be back but not enough to _skip) _to meet Sirius Black.

* * *

When she saw Sirius leaning against the wall to the huge double doors leading out of the castle, her heart skipped a beat. She would stand by what she had told Quinton – he was beautiful.

He glanced up the second she stepped into the entrance hall and a smile graced his lips and he pushed away from the wall, swaggering towards her with a silly 'hi there!' grin that he had perfected years ago and Hermione grinned back, linking their hands when he got close enough and he tightened his grip.

"Come on, time for our date!" Sirius said coyly, leading her away and out the Entrance Hall.

"You made me come all this way to just walk back on myself?" She asked, raising her eyebrow at the Gryffindor man who chuckled and pulled her closer.

"You could do with some exercise," he retorted and Hermione snorted.

"What exactly are you trying to say?" She asked, feigning anger. She knew that he meant she had been laid still for a week and that walking could do her body some good and he was right. It seemed that he knew exactly that she understood his real meaning and simply chuckled, his deep voice soothing to her ears.

He led her to a corridor that she instantly recognized and knew that he was taking her to the kitchens. "You know, Hogwarts needs to come up with more places to go," Hermione said, her other hand curling around his bicep and he grinned down at her, his teeth looking very white.

"That it does, Sweetheart. I was going to take you to the room of requirement, but James and Lily have got it today and I don't fancy much interrupting them, so this will have to do." He told her and Hermione felt herself flush at the suggested tone Sirius used and Hermione knew what Sirius thought James and Lily were getting up to in that room.

They got to the portrait of the fruit bowl and Sirius reached out to tickle the pear, which giggled and squirmed before forming into a door handle that Sirius grasped in his strong hands and pulled open with ease, ushering them both inside.

When Hermione saw what Sirius had done, she gasped in delight, her eyes widening at the scenery before her. The kitchen was dark and only a single round table sat in the middle of the room as opposed to the four long tables that normally ran through the room. At the centre of the table stood a huge, cream candle with five flames flickering at the top, casting shadows across the stone walls that should look uninviting, but the flames influence made it look warm and homely. Soft music was playing from somewhere in the distance and they were no house elves in sight. "Wow…" She gasped and instinctively looked down at herself in her simple red jumper, blue jeans and trainers; she felt very self-conscious, which was ridiculous as she and Sirius were the only ones there.

"You look beautiful," Sirius whispered against her temple, wrapping his arms around her waist from behind. Hermione wasn't used to being complimented on all the time and she felt her skin flush red, but she smiled at his words, turning in his grasp and resting her hands on his grey jumper over his chest and standing on her tiptoes to press a light kiss to his luscious lips.

"You're not so bad yourself, love," she whispered across his lips and he grinned, one hand sliding up to her hair and kissing her again, with much more passion. They broke the kiss and Hermione went back on her flat feet before turning back to the table and seating herself down upon one of the padded chairs. "So, what's the occasion?" She asked as Sirius sat opposite her and grinned across from her.

"You are."

* * *

After their wondrous meal which Sirius says he himself cooked (which Hermione didn't quite believe) their dessert appeared. Hermione felt her mouth water at the sight of the chocolate ice-cream covered in sprinkles and chocolate sauce with whipped cream by the side of the plate. Sirius raised his eyebrows and Hermione smiled at him, picking up her spoon and diving into her dessert, Sirius following in her wake.

"So, how you holding up?" Sirius asked around a mouthful of ice-cream and Hermione looked up at him – like Quinton, Sirius looked much better then the last time Hermione had seen him – before his hair was unkempt, he had bags under his eyes that had once held a mischievous twinkle, but had vanished. Now, he was looking just as attractive as ever, if not more so.

"I'm okay," she said honestly, but she knew she wouldn't be. It hadn't sunk into her yet that there would be no more Harry and Ron, no more mum and dad and she didn't know how to cope with that.

"You sure?" He pressed and Hermione smiled at him softly, pushing away from her seat and kneeled on the floor beside him to lock eyes with him properly.

"I'm fine. No more tremors, no more being sick – just…Well, it was a side effect of the potion I was given to send me back. That's all," she said and kissed him. He tasted like peppermint, strawberry and orange, the bizarre flavour of his ice-cream and he happily returned the kiss, his hand holding her head still and he fed her hot, desperate kisses. It got heavy fast and she found herself straddling his legs, chest-to-chest and Sirius was breathing heavily from his nose which Hermione felt across her cheekbone. He broke the kiss, tilting his head the other way, using his hand to turn hers the opposite direction and delved back in.

To Hermione, it felt as if her heart was coiling back in on itself and then bursting with life with each beat and her skin was warm, almost uncomfortably so. Dessert forgotten, Hermione felt Sirius slide his hand up her thigh and she was slightly shocked to find that she didn't mind – in fact, she wanted him to continue. She let her hands slide into his hair and he grunted in appreciation, his kiss deepening and he licked the seam of her lips and she moaned at the action allowing him to sneak his tongue inside and lightly touch hers, drawing it into his own. The kiss was growing intense and she felt her body become aware of everything he was doing, to the hand at her thigh moving around to the underside to the hand by her jaw moving down her neck, over her shoulder, down her side and to her hip; his heart beating rapidly in time with her own and his silky hair under her fingertips. She couldn't help the moan when Sirius moved his hand to the underside of her other thigh.

"Hold on, Sweetheart." He whispered harshly against her mouth and licked her tongue again, "just hold on." She gasped in surprise when he stood the hands under her thighs supporting her and she broke the kiss, leaning her forehead against his. His hooded grey eyes filled her vision, intense and sparkling with lust before she felt her back hit the stone, the cold seeping through her jumper and she gasped again, arching her back against the chill and Sirius chuckled, his voice deep and harsh as his eye flickered back to her open mouth before going back, pressing kisses against the corner of her mouth.

This, Hermione thought, was the reason she came her, left her family and friends behind. To be in the arms of the man whom she loved, to be lavished upon and treated to candle-lit dinners because they had missed Valentine's Day. Sirius slid his hand up her jumper to rest on the skin on her stomach and Hermione breathed in sharply through her teeth – this was different.

He made no move to move his hands and continued to kiss across her jaw and nibble on her earlobe and she just about melted. Her hands slid to his broad shoulders and she leaned her head back against the stone wall granting him more access and his lips hovered over her ivory skin, his breath creating goose-bumps to appear on her skin and he laughed lightly before his tongue licked a path to her collarbone and the wool of her jumper suddenly became itchy. She longed to take it off, but they both knew that it was way too soon for that and she was pleased that Sirius was controlling himself as he was.

When he kissed back up to her lips, she decided that it wasn't fair that she was getting all the pleasure and that he was the one giving – her mother had always said that it was giving that made Christmas, not the receiving. While this wasn't Christmas, her mother's words had never struck so close to home – she wanted him to feel what she was feeling. She felt like she was his world, that she was beautiful and worthy of love. She never believed she wasn't, in all honesty, but feeling Sirius' lips against hers and feeling his heart jack hammering away she became painfully aware of his actions.

She moved her head back and looked into his eyes. He was panting, his whole body pressed to hers to keep her steady against the walls, arms caged around her protecting her, not letting her fall. He blinked slowly before he gulped and averted his eyes.

"I'm sorry," he gasped and Hermione frowned at his words. Why was he sorry? Had she done something wrong? Was she being unresponsive? Her body was still humming from his ministrations and she wanted more. "I think I've taken this to fa—" Hermione rolled her eyes and leaned foreword, flicking her tongue against his pulse point, his pulse pounding beneath her tongue and he stiffened, sucking in a deep breath and holding it, the beat underneath her tongue going faster and she smirked against his neck, pressing open mouthed, wet kisses down the column of his throat. She allowed her teeth to graze his skin and he groaned deeply, ploughing a hand in her curls to keep her close and bracing his hand against the wall beside her shoulder, shuddering. "Oh, Sweetheart," he breathed, his mouth moving against her curls as he pressed a kiss against her temple. "I think, Merlin, I think we should stop," he sounded like it was painful for him to say and she closed her eyes, not wanting to stop but knowing they had to. This would lead to…other things. Other things that she just wasn't ready for right now.

"Okay," she whispered, unhooking her legs from his slim hips and travelling down his body, wrapping her arms around his middle once she was stable, pressing her ear to the front of his black jumper and listening as his heart slowed down. His own arms were wrapped around her waist, crossing over her arms and resting on the small of her back, tracing random patterns against the skin that was revealed as her jumper rode up. "I love you," she whispered and again, Sirius stiffened, but for different reasons. "I mean, I mean I really, really like you! I mean, God, I don't – " she desperately backtracked, trying to move from Sirius' embrace, but he held her tight. "Sirius, I'm sorry." She croaked, trying to stop the tears. She had gone and ruined everything, everything just because she couldn't keep her mouth shut.

"Hey," he tucked his finger under her chin and lifted her head up, but she averted her eyes from his own. "Look at me, Hermione," he said it with such sincerity that she did, although his face was slightly blurred from her tears that she wasn't sure if she was looking directly into his own eyes.

He bent down, so their lips were aligned and hovered, letting his breath wash over her lips and Hermione subconsciously licked them. He descended, kissing her deeply. This kiss was different from the passionate one that they had just indulged in and she felt this one from the tips of her fingers to the centre of her soul. Her body warmed and cooled at the same time. He moved his tongue against hers almost lazily and it was so very intense that Hermione felt a tear slip down her face, burning against her cool skin that suddenly turned red hot as Sirius backed away, licking her upper lip on the way out before delving back in again.

"You know, Hermione." He whispered, his lips touching hers, "I really, really like you to."

_A/N: Okay, I hope you like this peeps! We haven't seen Sirius properly in a while, so I had to do this. I just adore him and so wish that he was real! _

_Sigh…Anyways, thank you for taking the time to read my story! Love you all! In a non-creepy kind of way, of course. _

_Mwah!_

_Kelly_

_xxx_


	42. One down Six to go

**Disclaimer: **_Don't own._

**Weight of the World**

**Chapter 42**

Hermione was practically on cloud nine. Even though he hadn't said the elusive three words to her, he had said it in his own special way. "I really, really like you too," was basically Sirius speech for "I love you," and Hermione couldn't be happier. She noticed, as the days wore on that their connection since Hermione's confession – the shared this secret little smile that was theirs and theirs only. Hermione never thought that somebody would look at her like that, like she was everything or get excited when he sees her. This was _her_ Sirius, and she loved him.

She was practically dancing through the halls and she knew that she had a stupid look on her face, the big, goofy grin, but she couldn't help it – Until someone bashed into her, wrapped their arm around her waist and pushed her into a hidden alcove. She practically fell from Cloud nine.

"What do you want?" She snapped, bushing hair out of her face and glaring up at the boy.

"I thought you wanted my help?" He hissed, his grey eyes narrowing and Hermione rolled her eyes.

"You offered."

"Oh, so you don't want my help? Okay then, I best be going…" He stepped back, but Hermione's hand flew out and caught onto the sleeve of his expensive looking black robes. He paused and glanced back over his shoulder at her, raising his eyebrows in expectation and Hermione sighed.

"Fine. Okay, what have you found out?" She asked, releasing him and crossing her arms over her chest – she may not like Regulus, but he was offering to help her so that she didn't have to do this completely alone. He raised his eyebrows again at her before taking her wrist and pulling her along the corridors roughly, looking sideways at all times, checking that nobody would see them together.

When they reached the seventh floor she let Regulus pace in front of the wall three times before she grasped the door open and pulled it open. What was inside wasn't what she expected at all, in all honesty. She had suspected that he had requested that the room be a sort of meeting room between the two of them, but instead she just saw heaps of junk. Hundreds of broken chairs were piled in the corner closest to her and a broken record player kept repeating the same line "_She was with you…"_ over and over again on a repeated loop; there was a cabinet that stood tall and proud and other stuff that she couldn't identify, just all piled into a mass in the centre of the floor.

She should be questioning her trust for him, she knew, but she just had this niggling feeling in the back of her head that he was trustworthy and, while she normally told that voice to be quiet so she could intensively research it first to come to the same conclusion as the voice, this time she went with it. She didn't know why, she just felt that it was the right thing to do.

"What are we doing here?" She asked, watching as his face crumpled in slight horror at the mess before them before he snapped back to reality and glanced at her.

"Again, I thought you wanted my help," he retorted, resting his weight on one foot.

"No, I get that, I meant what are we doing _here, _in the room on requirement." She asked again, gesturing to the room around them and she saw that hundreds of unlit lightens hovered above the two of them, bobbing up and down in the air.

Regulus shrugged one shoulder and waded into the mess of junk and Hermione sighed, knowing that she had to follow. "To get a Horcrux, Kinglsey." He said over his shoulder and Hermione nearly walked into a giant clock at his words.

"A Horcrux? Here?" She couldn't actually believe it…All this time, and there was one right here, close enough for them to grasp…

"Yes, Kingsley. You do know that Hogwarts was like a second home to Voldemort, right? He hated the end of the year when he had to go back to the orphanage for months, where he didn't fit in because he was hated there and he had magical abilities. He resented the amount of time that he spent in the Muggle World and, after he graduated, he asked for a job here to be a professor and hid it in the place that it originated from." He told the story as they walked and Hermione couldn't help but notice the disturbing similarities between Voldemort and Harry – it was almost frightening. "And there it is," he stopped so suddenly that Hermione almost walked into his back. She glanced around her and saw what looked like a silver tiara adorned with a bright blue gem in the centre and inscribed along the surface was the words –

"Wit beyond measure is mans greatest treasure," she read, her long fingers reaching out for the object resting upon the bust and when her fingertips grazed it, it hummed. "Is this Ravenclaw's Diadem?" She asked amazed and beside her Regulus nodded.

"10 points to Gryffindor," he said sarcastically before he reached into his pocket and drew his wand. "You see, however many years ago, Helena Ravenclaw wanted to be the wisest with on Earth and she took off with this, ran away to Albania with it. Rowena, her mother, sent the only man that Helena had even loved after her – the Bloody Baron. She hid this inside a Hollow Tree and when she refused to go back with him he stabbed her. He was so overcome with grief that he killed himself to." Regulus rolled his eyes at the Bloody Baron's stupidity and Hermione had to agree that, while it was incredibly sad, he really shouldn't have stabbed her in the first place.

"How do you even know this?" Hermione asked and was surprised to find that she was whispering.

"I asked her." He answered and Hermione blinked stupidly at him for a minute, briefly wondering how he could talk to her when she was dead when it slotted together and she realised.

"She's a ghost."

"Another 10 points to Gryffindor," He muttered again before taking a step back and grasping her wrist with his slender fingers, pulling her backwards as well.

"Regulus, you do know that as a Prefect, you are actually giving me these points, right? Just because you're saying them sarcastically doesn't stop the points from being counted." She told him, smirking when his face dropped into a look of disbelief before he growled low in his throat and stopped his foot like a petulant child.

"Can I carry on with the story now?" He asked and Hermione nodded, although from where she stood just behind him, he couldn't see her.

"Centuries later, Voldemort asked her himself, charmed the Grey Lady into telling him the location of the Horcrux before he set off there, killing an Albanian peasant to create this Horcrux. When he came here again for a job as a Professor, he hid the Diadem in here "The Room of Hidden things" believing that he was the only student here that had found this room." He finished and Hermione frowned.

"Okay, how do you know _that?_" She asked and Regulus turned to face her, a delicately tamed eyebrow travelled up his forehead.

"He told me. Ever since the Death Eaters came together he's always recruited a Hogwarts student to look after the Diadem, keep it safe. There's five Death Eaters in the school, but only three are privy to the location and only me to what it actually is. After I graduate, my mind will be obliterated so if I turn sides, I won't divulge the information." Regulus told her and Hermione's brain became frantic – who were the other four Death Eaters?

"Regulus, who –"

"I'm not going to tell you," he interrupted, turning back to look at the Diadem that Hermione had to admit was very beautiful.

"But why? If I knew who the Death Eaters were, then maybe I could –"

"What? Tell Dumbledore like you told him about me? I'm not an idiot, Hermione, I knew it had to have been you. Only you, and my bone head brother and co. would even have the guts to tell anyone about me." He sneered, "and since Sirius hasn't attempted to kick my head in yet, then I can safely assume that he doesn't know."

"How can you have the patience to piece all this together?" She asked, "I always heard you had a short temper." She informed him, wringing her hands in front of her. She was itching to get to the Diadem and destroy it…Well, take it to Professor Dumbledore to keep with the Diary until they found a way to destroy it.

"Logic, Kinglsey. It takes a good wizard to duel and curse, but a great wizard to plot. Logic is a skill that not many people possess wizard or muggle. In your year, I think you and Snape are the only two who even have a glimpse of it." He nodded his head at her in some sort of acceptance and she returned it. Regulus wasn't a bad guy, he was just dragged into something that he didn't want to do due to who his family was. Sirius had managed to get out of it with his placement in Gryffindor and he made it clear throughout his teenage years that he was against their pure-blood teachings.

"What are you doing?" She asked Regulus who had raised his wand and he just started to say the first words to a spell before the Diadem hissed and the bright blue gem at the front gleamed viciously and something emerged, growing and extending before it stood upright and Hermione gasped at the smoke figure of Sirius that she was seeing, which had such a sinister vibe to it that it made a Droxy look fluffy. Regulus reacted, moving his arm out in front of her, stopping her from moving any closer to the Sirius look-a-like, who was currently checking his fingernails and staring at Regulus with distaste, like he was a bug stuck to the bottom of his shoe.

"_Come now, little brother…Because you've turned to the 'light side doesn't mean I'll love you…In fact, I still hate you! I hate the ground you walk on, I hate the look on your stupid, arrogant face, I hate you!...You are nothing but a worthless, lousy, manipulative little git who deserves to rot in Hell…If I never see your face again, it'll be to soon…" _The smoke version of Sirius cackled, throwing his head back and laughing maniacally, "_Mother still loves me more, pines away for her first born son and you will never compare to me in the Black household, you'll never amount to anything!" _Hermione looked at Regulus as the words of the Sirius look-a-like sunk in and Hermione could have sworn that she saw a flash of red in Regulus slate grey eyes.

"Regulus-?" Regulus pointed his wand and yelled the words of a spell so loud that Hermione could barely hear the syllables before a huge, fiery snake erupted from the end of his wand. Hermione felt the heat instantly and gazed in horror at the snake watching as it reared back, coiled up, mouth open and fangs at the ready before striking, moving foreword so fast that Hermione barely had time to blink before it had its jaws wrapped around Ravenclaw's Diadem, a fiery fang piercing the blue gem at the front and it cracked as the whole Diadem itself shook and let out an inhuman scream as the image of Sirius vaporized, as if caught in the wind before it all went quiet, the snake disappearing, leaving only a residue of smoke behind as the only reminder that it had even been there.

"Fiendfyre." Hermione gasped and her gaze on Regulus turned angry. "Why the Hell did you use that? You know how dangerous that is!" She chastised, but Regulus wasn't paying any attention and he moved towards the remains of the Diadem as Hermione controlled to calm her frantic heart. It wasn't Sirius, it wasn't Sirius, it wasn't Sirius…

"He said that to me, you know." Regulus said, her back to him and Hermione saw him move his hand up to his face, as if wiping away tears and Hermione felt a sudden pang for him in her heart.

"It must be hard," she said, moving closer to him and settling her hand tentatively on his shoulder. He tensed, his muscles rippling under her touch but he did not move away. Instead, he reached out for the Diadem, but as soon as his fingers touched it, a tar, blood like substance began to pour out of it and it practically disintegrated, charred ashes falling to the floor. "But Sirius doesn't hate you." She didn't know if what she was saying was the truth or not, but she was determined to find out.

"I know. You can't hate family." He said, sniffling slightly, although Hermione pretended not to notice. She knew that what he said want true, that you could hate family, but she kept quiet. "But mother does love him more then me. Always has done. It's not her fault; he was always the better of the two of us. Even when he was sorted into Gryffindor he could do no wrong in her eyes. She didn't burn him off the family tree until he ran away last year, but that was to avoid this life. This summer, just before my initiation, he came back home. He tried to convince me to come with him, to get out of this life while I still could, but I couldn't do it. I wanted mother to love me more just for once." He said sadly, his head hanging down.

"I'm so sorry." She whispered and Regulus nodded his head sharply before standing straight and taking a deep breath.

"Come on, let's go." He said and he grasped her wrist, leading her away from the destroyed Diadem.

"One down – six to go," she said and Regulus stopped, looking at her strangely. "What?" She asked. At this moment in time, she just wanted to get as far away from here as possible.

"Six to go…Kingsley, he doesn't have Seven Horcruxes." He told her.

"Yes he does," she said, poking him in the chest. He grasped her hand in his and pushed it away, an annoyed look in his grey eyes.

"No, Kingsley. Not yet. He wants Seven Horcruxes, but at the minute he only has five. Well, four now."

"Do you know what they are?" She asked urgently. Four…Technically three since they already had the diary. The locket, she knew about the locket, but she'd need Regulus help for that one. She knew that somebody had replaced it with a fake, R.A.B, but if Voldemort was moving them…He had to know where it was.

"I know what they are, but I don't know where he's moved them all to. Hufflepuff's cup, but that was given to Bellatrix so it could be in Gringotts in her vault. Slytherin's locket and I'm going with him in a few months to move it again – he wants to keep one Horcrux moving at all times – and a family ring. I know where that one is."

This was it. Hermione felt excitement, fear and happiness bubble in her stomach like acid and she couldn't help the grin on her face. She knew what the Horcruxes were; she actually had a chance of doing this, of destroying the Horcruxes, of making a better life for her parents and Harry and Ron and her friends, to take away the fear that was constantly felt every day, all the time. She wanted them to feel safe, and she was going to get to these Horcruxes and destroy them all.

"Um…Do you smell that?" Once Regulus asked the question, the putrid smell of smoke assaulted her senses and she gagged. Turning quickly, she saw flames, flickering high and, with an uproar, spread.

"I thought you had it under control?" She yelled, watching in fascinated horror as the flames began to form into that of a dragon. Regulus rummaged in his cloak before pulling out his wand, raising it between them. She looked between him and the wand and saw that it was just a wand – there was no glow about it and no magical energy can be felt. "It isn't you," she whispered.

"Well done!" He yelled and the dragon roared, its breath expelling a ball of fire that was heading towards them and Regulus grabbed her arm pulling her roughly into a pile of what looked like headboards just as the fireball flew by and Hermione felt the hairs on the back of her head curl even more at the heat and her skin felt very uncomfortable. The fireball hit the door and exploded, tiny flames raining down before they merged together, creating a ring of fire that moved upwards, flickering madly and Hermione had the impression that it was laughing at her.

They needed to get out! But how? They were blocked off, trapped and Hermione couldn't actually see a way out of this – _Agumenti_ was ineffective against Fiendfyre and so was every other water charm that she knew. She felt her skin crawl with the knowledge that she was really about to die and her heart beat faster, creating a tempo so strong that Hermione thought it was going to burst out of her skin. The fire was closing in, the dragon behind them rearing back, ready to blow another hot ball of fire towards them and Hermione closed her eyes, ready for the blast, for the fire to hit her and burn her, to take away her life as she waited for death.

_There was a knock on the front door, but Hermione barely lifted her head up from the book she was reading – the little princess. She had read the book so many times that the corners of the pages were all turned down and it was thumb worn, with a crack down the spine. She felt for Sarah, not fitting in with the other girls and she felt a connection. Hermione didn't get on with the girls at her school, either._

"_Hermione! Sweetie, there's someone at the door for you!" That revelation made Hermione blink blankly before she carefully got up and wondered out of the living room, the threadbare blanket tucked around her shoulders and the book still clutched in her grasp. _

_There, by the door, was a man with a long, silver beard tucked into a brown belt and long hair tied into a ponytail at the nape of her neck. Hermione stared at the man and she found it hard to look away from his piercing blue eyes. Beside her, her mother was staring, open mouthed at his outfit of golf trousers and a burgundy red jumper with a white button down shirt thrown over the top and her father, who had called for her, was leaning against the wall, looking amused._

"_Miss Granger?" He asked and she nodded dumbly. He smiled at her and dug into his pocket, handing her mother a letter, who automatically took it while still staring at the man. _

"_Here, Miranda, give it to me," her father said and took it from her, but she didn't even argue. Hermione looked from her parents to the man, whose hands were behind his back and he was looking above him, staring at the stars. _

"_Dear Miss Granger. You have been accepted into Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry…Hold on, what?" Her father read out and Hermione's eyes widened. _

"_Miss Granger," the man said and Hermione looked at him. He was now kneeling before her, smiling and she felt that this man was to be trusted. "Have you even done anything extraordinary? That nobody could explain to you?" He asked and her parents looked at each other over her head._

"_I once made Bobby Tuckett's glasses break." She said, her eyes flickering to the right as she remembered, "and I made Teresa Mane and Francesca Heart's skipping rope tangle up because they wouldn't let me play with them." She cast her eyes downward, remembering the rejection from her classmates and someone settled their hand on her shoulder. _

"_You're a witch, Hermione." That was the day that her life changed forever – a reason was supplied for being an outcast, for not fitting in. _

Memories were playing in her mind, images flickering before her eyes, going so fast that she could barely tell what was happening, but that memory had played less then second and the world around her seemed to slow down. Beside her, Regulus was moving so slowly he didn't seem to be moving at all and the dragon was still reeled back as her next memory took over.

"_She's a nightmare, honestly. No wonder she hasn't got any friends." Ron's voice reached her and she felt tears well up in her eyes as the other four boys laughed with him, tormenting her. She didn't fit in here, either, she realised and she stopped past them, head held high, making sure to walk into Ron. _

"_I think she heard you…" She could vaguely hear Harry and she breathed in deeply before heading for the first girls toilets she came across. She couldn't make it to Gryffindor tower room without letting a few tears slip down. The second she got there, she quickly checked through her blurred eyes to see if anyone else was in there and seeing that there wasn't anybody else, she slipped into the first cubicle and dropped her books and bags, locking the door and leaning against it, letting the sob that was scratching at her vocal chords be heard and the tears quickly followed. She didn't fit in here, either…_

…

…

_She had to get to Harry and Ron – she had to tell them what it was…She held the ripped out piece of paper in her hand and ran down the corridors, nearly running into Penelope Clearwater. She knew her as the Ravenclaw prefect and her and Percy were having a bit of a 'thing'._

_She had no idea what birth Penelope was, but one look in the Basilisk's eyes could kill anyone. _

"_Listen, listen to me. Penelope, the thing that's petrifying muggle-borns, I know what it is! It's a Basilisk and it could be anywhere. One look in its eyes is fatal. Look around corners with something reflective." She warned. Penelope raised her eyebrow and took out a jewel, hand-held mirror before looking around the corner with it and the bright yellow eyes were the last thing that she saw before her whole body shut down and Penelope's scream died down as if someone was turning down the volume…_

…

…

"_I cant believe that your boggart is Professor McGonagall. That is almost to good to be true," Ron laughed joyfully beside her, hoisting his bag further up onto his shoulder._

"_At least I got to that stage, Ronald!" She snapped back and Ron's laughter slowly stopped. _

"_Hey, you know I don't mean it, right?" He said and she looked into his blue eyes. He smiled at her and she smiled back. Ron was tall and lanky, but Hermione couldn't help but be attracted to him – he protected her, even going as far as to snap at Snape for her in class when he called her a know-it-all and curse Draco Malfoy for calling her a Mudblood…Even if the curse did backfire. _

"_I know," she said quietly and they had a…Well, what Hermione could only describe as a "moment." Ron blushed and rubbed the back of his head while on the other side of him, Harry laughed and slapped him on his back before all three carried on walking and her and Ron kept glancing at each other when they thought nobody was looking…_

…

…

_Hermione looked up from her book when somebody sat at her table and Hermione smiled as the Bulgarian Seeker placed his bag on the table beside her, but her smile vanished when she heard the giggling hoard of girls in the stacks behind them and she rolled her eyes, showing how annoyed she was. _

"_You get used to Vem," Viktor said and Hermione looked up. _

"_They're stupid. So caught up in their own little world that they don't stop and think that people don't want them following around all the time," she said loudly and one of the girls in the group snorted, but none of them moved to leave. _

"_I agree." He said and smiled before taking a deep breath and placing his large hand over hers. "I vas vondering…Vould you like to go to the Yule Ball vith me?" He asked and Hermione felt her skin flush red at his request. She never dreamed that she'd get asked to the Yule Ball and if anybody would ask her it would be Neville or Ron after he failed to get a date, not because he liked her. She knew that Viktor could have any girl here as his date, so why had he chosen her? _

"_I'd love to go with you," she answered honestly. She couldn't sit, waiting for Ron forever…_

…

…

_Hermione opened her eyes slowly and saw the bright white light above her…The moon? She frowned before it came more into focus and she realised that it wasn't the moon, but the moons light, creeping into the room and staining the bright white ceiling. _

_She was in the Hospital Wing. _

"_Wha—" she gasped in pain and brought a hand automatically to her chest, looking down she saw that she was topless with just white bandages wrapped around her breasts and torso and she flushed in both pain and embarrassment that somebody had seen her like this. _

"_Hermione?" Someone asked and Hermione knew instantly that it was Ron, there beside her. He was safe and she let her body relax back into the pillows. _

"_Ron." She answered back before she let her eyes close. Ron was okay, he had got out of the Ministry alive, he was safe…_

_**...**_

…

_She was sobbing into Ron's shoulder as he reached up and brushed back her hair, shushing her threw his own tears that dripped off the end of his long nose. Hermione didn't know what was going to happen them, but they were in it together…_

…

…

_"You've done something to me, Hermione," Sirius whispered, leaning his forehead against hers, so close that all he could see was her slate grey eyes, "I'm going crazy," the hand at her cheek slid behind her head, he entwined his fingers in her curls and kissed her forehead letting his lips linger and she closed her eyes when heat spread through his body._

_"Sirius," she whispered and he moved his head back to look at her and saw __something__ in her eyes, which seemed to be enough for him. He leaned foreword to brush his lips across hers; only when he was close, a hairs-breath away from her lips did her eyes close and she gave up her pretences. Their lips brushed hesitantly and Hermione felt something explode in his stomach, firework setting off and her blood went from hot to cold, like ice was spreading through his veins._

…

…

"_I really, really like you too." _

Suddenly, Regulus arm came around her shoulder quickly, pulling her into his body as the dragon behind her roared and crashed to the floor, the chairs in the corner igniting instantly and smoke clouded her vision.

"Hermione, come on!" Regulus jerked her hand and he grabbed hold of a broomstick that had seen better days, the front handle splintered and the broom was missing lots of bristles. "Now!" Hermione didn't care much for flying, but the heat at her back and the dragon roaring, refusing to be forgotten was enough for her to clamber onto the back of the broom behind Regulus and he kicked off, just as the dragon released another fireball and the edges of the broom singed.

"Where's the door?" Hermione found herself shrieking before fire appeared at the side of her and Regulus quickly turned right. The dragon roared again and tilted its head back before raising itself on its back legs, breathing fire in a trail in the air and Regulus was forced to fly backwards to get away from the flames, moving so fast that Hermione couldn't hear her own scream.

"I can't see anything but fire and smoke, Kingsley!" Regulus yelled back, taking one arm off the broom to wipe his forehead just as a flame licked at their feet and they lost their balance, spinning in the air so they were upside down and Hermione's hair singed very badly.

"There!" Hermione shrieked, to afraid to let go and point, her arms almost crushing Regulus' ribs. "Right in front of you! That pin-prick of light!" She told him and suddenly the broom was righted again and they were off, speeding through the smoke, dust and flames, dodging the dragon as it tried to get at them and Hermione watched as the tiny dot of light got bright the closer and closer that they got to it…

Their broom collided with the stone wall in front of them and they toppled off the broom, coughing and breathing in fresh air, on their knees, unable to stand properly. They distantly heard a coughing and they both looked up to see a skinny, second year Gryffindor who was staring at them in horror as he looked between them and the open door to the room, where the flames were very visible but didn't pass through the door.

"Ermm...Are you okay?" He squeaked and Regulus growled beside her.

"Get out of here, kid." He didn't need telling twice. He turned and ran so fast that his legs were practically a blur. "Who the Hell cast that spell?" He growled again, standing on shaky legs before extending his hand to her and pulled her up.

"I don't know, but I don't think it was a person." She gasped, so happy to breath in air that she could skip. If she wasn't shaking.

"What was it then?" He asked beside her, resting his back against the wall.

"Think, Regulus. Whoever cast it was behind us. So, either they were in there before us or they apparated in. What is the only thing that can apparate on Hogwarts?" She asked and Regulus blinked.

"A House-Elf."

"Exactly."

"So…A House Elf is out to get us?" He asked and Hermione had to admit that it did sound ridiculous.

"No. Someone got the House Elf to go after us." She told him, happy that she was able to stand up straight now.

"But…How do you know that they didn't go in before us?" He asked, rubbing his forehead.

"Because they'd be dead now." She said harshly and closed her eyes. She had come so close to dying, her life had flashed before her eyes…

"But…How did they even know we were here?" He asked, his eyes wide and he continued taking deep breaths. He must have inhaled more smoke then she had.

"I don't know." She answered exasperated, but everything pointed to a House Elf. Maybe it was one of the three Death Eaters in the school who knew of its location. "You know, I think this could be the start of a beautiful friendship," she gasped, wrapping her arm around her ribs, gasping in air still. He scoffed and brushed it off, but she saw the glint in his eyes, the one that said "I've been accepted."

They'd destroyed a Horcrux, a piece of Voldemort's soul forever gone and now, now they needed to destroy the other five. She knew it wouldn't be easy, but with Regulus on one side and Sirius on the other, she was sure that she could do this. She just needed some help.

_A/N: And there has it! I put the flashbacks in because I felt the fire bit was going to fast and sounded a bit rushed, plus I thought I'd put in some missing Moments from Hermione's point of view, because it really interests me. I also put in her and Sirius' first kiss as a little refresher. Hope you like it!_

_Kelly_

_xxx_


	43. Patronuses and transformations

Disclaimer:

_Don't own _

**Weight of the World**

**Chapter 43**

Friday 24th March 1978

Hermione walked hand-in-hand with Sirius to their next, and last, lesson of the day, which was Defence Against the Dark Arts. It had been three weeks since she and Regulus had destroyed both the Horcrux and the Room of Requirement (which Hermione didn't know about until James stomped in the Gryffindor Common Room, red in the face complaining about the loss of an amazing room.) Since the room had been destroyed, Hermione's memories started morphing, changing, but still remaining the same. It was as if somebody had planted some more memories alongside her other, real ones. She began to remember that they didn't have a place to practice for the DA, and had instead resorted to using empty classrooms, moving all the time making sure never to go in the same room more then once – they were more then enough classrooms to allocate to this need. Also, in sixth year, the Death Eaters didn't have a way to get into Hogwarts, so the Battle at the Astronomy tower never happed, but Dumbledore still fell to his death, his body colliding painfully with the hard, unforgiving ground. Even though the fight never happened, Hermione could remember the terror, the frustration as jets of light flew all around her, luckily none of them hitting her; she remembered not being able to see Ron or Ginny, just chaos all around her.

It was disconcerting, she thought to herself, to have two separate memories – like she was two different people. It was unbelievable how her actions here had changed her time so much, but she was glad that it hadn't been turned horrific – nobody had died yet who hadn't in her time and Dumbledore died still because…Well, maybe it was juts his time to die, right then in that specific moment.

"Knut for your thoughts?" Sirius inquired, pulling Hermione out of her thoughts and she turned to look up at him, a smile on her face.

"No. My thoughts are worth so much more than a Knut," she teased, squeezing his hand and pulling him into the classroom, listening to his deep, throaty laugh that sent a chill down her spine. They separated to sit in their seats, Hermione and Lily were sat in front of Sirius and James and Hermione felt safe, knowing that he had her back.

The other students trickled in and Rayne and Kara dropped into their seats behind James and Sirius, Remus and Peter in front of Hermione and Lily and Thoma and Megara to the left of them. It was so weird seeing Thoma now, seeing her so out-of-this-world when in twenty years she'd be very normal. Now, her long, curly bright blue hair was now cropped and a deep purple colour and Hermione couldn't help but think that she looked so much better with her brunette hair.

Before her thoughts could carry her down a path that would ultimately lead to her family and friends, a silver owl burst into the room, flying gracefully in an arc before hooting once and disappearing into a wispy, grey mist as Quinton walked in, looking tired but none the less smiling at the students.

"Can anybody tell me what that is?" He asked when he got to the front of the room and he leaped up onto his desk, leaning back on his arms. "Lily?"

"It's a Patronus, sir. It's a way to defend one's self against dark creatures, such as Dementors. It takes on the form of an animal." Quinton nodded as Lily gave her answer and hopped off the desk, clapping his hands once.

"Good. Five points to Gryffindor. Now, today class we're gonna play a game. I'm going to teach you how to produce a Patronus charm and then you're gonna come up here, individually and have a go yourselves."

"How is that a game?" Eric Crawler asked, a sneer on his face and Quinton rolled his eyes.

"Five points from Slytherin for being ignorant – you didn't let me finish, Crawler." This was met with boos and hisses from most of the Slytherin's, the only one not taking part was Severus, who was writing ferociously on a sheet of parchment, not taking in what was being said around him as he sat at a table to the back by himself.

"Anyway," Quinton carried on, moving his gaze from Crawler to the whole class, "we're going to guess what each person's Patronus will be. Say, Sirius correctly guesses James' patronus, he will win a packet of Bertie Bott's every flavoured Bean's and then, if James correctly guesses Lily's patronus, he'll also win a packet. Okay, good, can anybody actually already correctly cast the charm?" He asked, his blue eyes scanning the crowd and Hermione automatically put her hand up and his eyes brightened. "Hermione! Come on up here!" He cheered and Hermione slowly stood, hating the attention that she was receiving and behind her, Sirius wolf-whistled. "Yes, thank-you, Sirius. Now, who thinks they can guess what Hermione's patronus is? And, if you do know, don't say anything." Three people put their hands up in the air and Hermione seriously didn't want to hear some of the suggestions of what her patronus was. "James?"

"Something intelligent – Like a dolphin, aren't they supposed to be the second must intelligent animal? After humans, of course."

"Okay, we have one for dolphin, Rayne?" He asked the blonde haired girl who grinned, tugging on the end of her rainbow stripy scarf.

"I think its something cute, with big eyes! A mouse! They're adorable," Hermione rolled her eyes at her friend, but couldn't fight the smile taking over – she was so much like Luna it was frightening.

"Oh, er, okay, one for mouse! Severus, what's your suggestion?" Hermione inwardly groaned – she knew that Severus was going to say some ugly animal to make her feel bad, because that's something that he would do. She closed her eyes and waited to hear his snivelling, cruel voice.

"Otter." He said and Hermione's eyes opened in shock – had she mentioned it before to him? How did he know?

"Okay, first off, Hermione, is any of them right?" Quinton asked her, peering over the edge of his glasses and Hermione nodded dumbly, still confused as to how Severus would know that – it can't just be an educated guess, of all the animals in the world to pick he just happened to pick hers? "Right, then off you go." He stood from the desk and extracted his wand from his cloak, pointing it at the desk and chair behind it and they flew back into the wall, papers scattering left and right.

"Okay…" She said and straightened her shoulders before moving her wand up into a defensive pose. _Think a happy thought…Think a happy thought...think a happy thought…_

_"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" The hall screamed as one and Hermione stepped back in shock, a hand clasping at her heart._

_"Oh, God! What the hell?" She asked, thoroughly and utterly confused._

_"Well, you didn't get to celebrate your birthday," Sirius beside her said, wrapping an arm around her waist. "So were doing it now. It's a bit late, mind but…" he trailed off, his grip tightening around her, bringing her closer. She saw her friends under a huge banner which said "Happy Birthday Hermione!" With a ginger cat charmed to run along the bottom of it. Leaves had been charmed to fall from the ceiling and disappear before they hit any student's heads. Hermione saw a mix of Ravenclaw's, Hufflepuff's and Gryffindor's, but not a single Slytherin insight, aside from Professor Slughorn who was sat at the Teacher's table along with Professor McGonagall, Professor Dumbledore, Professor Flitwick and Quinton and his wife, Hayley._

Being accepted – having somebody throw her a surprise birthday party because they hadn't known about her birthday months prior. Because she fit in, she was a member of their group and it was on that day that she realised it, that moment.

"_Expecto Patronum_!" She yelled, and a silver otter burst from the tip of the wand, doing a somersault in the air before flying around Hermione's body, settling on her shoulder and nudging her cheek and disappearing, much like Quinton's owl had.

"Well done Hermione! Five points to Gryffindor and here, Severus, for getting it right –" Quinton flipped his wand and a pack of Bertie Bott's every flavoured Bean's shot out of a black bag hung on the back of Quinton's chair and launched itself at Severus, but it stopped short of hitting his head and landed gracefully before him. "How did you know, anyway?" Quinton asked and Severus shrugged one shoulder before answering.

"Big brown eyes, logic, coarse hair – no offence. It's what her animagus form would be, I'm sure." He shot a look at Sirius and James and Hermione found herself wondering, not for the first time, what it was exactly that Severus had against them.

"Well, that is a good deduction! Now, I'll actually teach you how to do it. First you have to…"

The rest of the lesson was so enjoyable that for the first time, she forgot about Horcruxes and the future and instead focused on the hilarity of Thoma's giraffe patronus, the smugness as she received her own packet for guessing Lily's correctly (which was totally guessed, she didn't know that it was a doe) the shock factor when Severus' patronus was the same as Lily's and how solemn she felt when Remus' Patronus turned out to be a wolf – he couldn't get away from his curse. Hermione was surprised at how many were able to perform the charm correctly so quickly and it turned out that only Megara, Kara, Eric Crawler and Eleanor Tenure had trouble with it.

"And the lesson is up! I want you all to write me an essay about your happy memory." The class groaned long and loud (except for Hermione and Lily, who didn't really mind the homework).

"Oh, you don't want homework?" He asked and the class all chorused no before James and Sirius started banging on the desks in synch chanting 'change your mind, change your mind.'

"You want me to change my mind?" Quinton asked, shuffling papers and the students all cheered 'Yeah!'

"Are you sure you want me to change my mind?" He taunted, sitting down at his desk and kicking his feet up, placing them on the desk, his hands tucked behind his head.

"Yeah!" Again the students chorused and Hermione let her head fall so her forehead landed on the cool wood of the desk and Sirius laughed at her.

"Well, tough, 'cause I'm the teacher and you're not. Go on, shoo." He gestured lazily with his hand and ignored the pathetic moans as they all scraped their chairs back and picked up their backs, heading out the door. Hermione grabbed a hold of Sirius' hand, entwining their fingers and he squeezed her hand back, carrying on with his discussion with James, using his other hand to gesture along with his story that Hermione wasn't paying much attention to. Instead, Remus had caught her eye as he and Peter walked away without even a look back and she knew what was happening – it was the Full Moon tonight, and Remus really shouldn't even be in classes today. He had looked awful, his skin had a grey tinge to it and he had bags under his eyes that looked yellow in the daylight, he looked old, tired, _ill. _

"Where's Remus going?" She forced herself to ask, knowing that she shouldn't know where he was going at the minute and Sirius squeezed her hand again before answering her, his voice low.

"The Hospital wing. He isn't feeling to well."

"So, why was he in classes today?" Hermione asked – he really shouldn't be, even in the days before the cycle he would still show Lupine qualities, such as Hermione noticed his teeth were longer then normal.

"Because he didn't want to be alone today," Sirius dipped his head to her ear and whispered the true reason – Today was the anniversary of when Greyback first bit him all those years ago and Hermione felt hatred bubble up for the evil werewolf who had destroyed so many lives.

"Oh," was the only thing that she could really think of to say and she blushed slightly as she realised how silly she sounded. Sirius grinned and James and Lily suggested that they go to the Lake to relax, as it was such a beautiful day outside. Sirius and Hermione readily agreed and together, all four of them strolled through the halls, talking amongst themselves, James had his arm wrapped around Lily and Sirius and Hermione were still holding hands – it amazed her that their hands fit together so perfectly.

"So, you see, if we could just do that, it would be the perfect prank!" James said, but the rest of the conversation was lost on Hermione.

"We have to think of a few more, Prongs, I mean, it's April the 1st soon!" Sirius said in glee and practically started skipping, forcing Hermione to quicken her pace, her smile widening. He was like a little boy in a sweet shop, she thought, as his face lit up with the prospect of the eternal prankster's day. A sudden thought came to her and she almost laughed in disbelief – Fred and George would be born on that day, pranksters to the core.

"What are you smiling about?" James grinned at her and she shook her head.

"Oh, it's nothing," she insisted and James rolled his eyes playfully, knowing that he was defeated.

"Well, hurry up!" He called, and stepping away from Lily, he snatched the Defence book that Hermione held in her hands, and ran off, cackling. She stared after him in shock before she growled low in her throat, shoved her bag into a laughing Sirius' hands and took off after James, thankful that she wasn't wearing her robes today as they would have slowed her down. James took a sharp left, trying to throw Hermione off course but it didn't work. Hermione was quickly gaining on him and he squealed when he realised and got faster, his arms and legs moving quickly.

"James! Why do I put up with you?" She yelled, watching as he whipped his body around another corner and she shook her head in disbelief and amusement. And Lily managed to be with him every day how?

"I'm keeping you in shape!" He yelled over his shoulder, "besides you love me!" Hermione scoffed and James shot her a look of mock offence over his shoulder before running straight into a wall. "Ow!" He cursed and a hand clamped on his forehead as Hermione dissolved into giggles, having to lean against the wall to stand up straight. "This is not funny, Kingsley!" James complained, still laying flat on his back in the middle of the hallway and a group of fourth year Ravenclaw's laughed at him. "20 points from the blue house!" He yelled, pointing at the ceiling, but made no move to get back up.

"Can I ha-have my book back-k now?" She asked through her laughs and James frowned, his glasses askew on his face as he held the book out to her. Fred and George would love him, Hermione thought as she grasped the read, leather bound book and pulled it from his grasp.

"Spoilsport."

* * *

Eventually, the four friends were sat at the waters edge, Lily and Hermione had their shoes and socks off, dipping their toes into the water as Sirius and James were climbing the rocks on the shore, trying to get closer to the Giant Squid as it lazed on the surface of the dark water to tickle its tentacles with the long stick that they held in their hands.

"Seriously, Hermione, are you feeling better?" Lily asked, nudging her with her shoulder and Hermione smiled reassuringly. She was starting to feel the pangs of pain whenever she thought of Harry, Ron or her parents, but for now, she was okay.

"I'm fine, Mum." She said teasingly and Lily flushed slightly. "Listen, I was wondering…It's totally okay if you don't, but I have a house and –"

"Wait, you have a house?" Lily interrupted, moving her upper body so that she was facing Hermione, her eyes wide in amazement.

"Yeah, I do and well, do you wanna move it? I mean, I have more then enough room and it's all paid off so you don't have to pay rent or anything, but – " before she could finish, she was cut off again when Lily threw her arms around her neck and hugged her tightly.

"Hermione, I'd be delighted! Oh, I have a place to live! Yayness!" She squealed and Hermione laughed returning the hug just as a yell and an almighty 'splash' could be heard. The two pulled away, looked at each other before turning their heads in synch to see James laughing like a child, still stood on one of the stones and Sirius, waist deep in the water, pushing his sopping wet hair from his face before shaking his head like a wet dog, droplets flying all over and Hermione and Lily stared in shock before catching each others gaze and bursting into laughter.

Sirius' head whipped up at the sound and growled low in his throat before he smirked, his grey eyes getting a mischievous glint in them before he waded through the water towards them.

"Hermione, run!" Lily warned, and Hermione shot up, turned around and took off, keeping her ears open for Sirius who was bound to catch up with her.

She wasn't disappointed. When she looked over her shoulder she saw Sirius right behind her and she screamed lightly in shock, trying to run faster but it was futile – he had her whisked up into his arms, wetting the left side of her body as he carried her bridal style before doing a U-turn and heading back to the lake.

"Sirius, don't you dare! Put me down this instant!" Hermione demanded, one hand clutching onto his shoulder to keep her balance, the other poking him in the chest. It was then she realised that his white shirt had gone see-through and she could see his chest through the thin fabric as she felt her skin flush. When her eyes wandered back up his chest, to his thick neck, over his chiselled chin and jaw to his perfect lips and his grey eyes, his eyebrow was raised in a challenging way and he stopped altogether before dropping his lips lightly to hers. She smiled into the kiss and foolishly thought she was off the hook when she felt her body emerged in cold, icy water. She broke the surface, wiping water from her eyes as she shot a glare towards the shore, but Sirius wasn't there. She coughed and turned her body in the water, finding it hard to move as her brown eyes scanned around her trying to catch her glimpse of her boyfriend.

Suddenly, she felt arms wrap around her legs and pull her down and she screamed before she was underwater once more and she saw a grinning Sirius. She glared at him (as best as she could do while the water was stinging her eyes). She prepared to swim to the surface but Sirius's arms around her waist stopped her and her hands fell to his biceps as she looked at him questioningly, her brown hair surrounding her head as it moved with the lakes current. He shook his head and ducked down, fitting Hermione snugly into his chest as he pressed his lips to hers.

She automatically wrapped her arms around his shoulders and returned the kiss, despite the fact it was just a peck, it was magic all the same – all of Sirius' kisses could reduce her to a puddle of goo and have her heart beat a hundred times a minute. Slowly, he pulled back before looking in her eyes and she breathed heavily, staring into his grey eyes.

Wait…Breathing? She looked at Sirius who grinned before moving closer and kissing her again, her lips wrapped around his top lip as he sucked lightly on her full bottom one, his tongue lightly sweeping across the seam of her lips and she grinned, her hands cupping her side of his face delicately and she realised that they were spinning in lazy circles around each other, the water swirling around their bodies making the moment enchanting.

She suddenly felt her throat close as water rushed in and she realised that whatever spell had been cast was now broken and she bucked in Sirius' hold automatically and he kicked off, using his powerful legs to propel them to the surface, which they broke with heaving gasps and frantic beating hearts as Hermione's hands landed on Sirius' chest and one of his large hands clasped over hers.

"You know," he gasped, pressing his lips to her forehead, "I have always wanted to do that." Hermione smiled and pulled back, pressing a quick peck to his lips before looking out at James and Lily, who were slow dancing on the sun-kissed sand of the shore, their feet sinking into the warmth when Hermione realised how freezing she was. A cockerel sounded from James who sighed heavily before dropping his arms from around Lily's waist and looking out towards them.

"Maybe you girls should get in now," James said apologetically, "Hermione, you're freezing! Get into the warmth!" He said, holding his hand out to the couple, gesturing that they should get a move on. Hermione looked up at Sirius who nodded at his friend before dropping his lips once again to her forehead and pushing her foreword gently with a hand on her waist.

"Why? I mean, it's only half four," Hermione pondered, the trek back to shore slow as the water was working against them.

"Look in the sky, love," he said and Hermione followed his request, looking up, directly above her to see a silver orb hanging in the air, barely visible in the bright blue sky.

"Isn't it bad enough that he has to go through this during the night? Now he has to go through the day as well?" She asked angrily, annoyed at her friends predicament but unable to do anything about it, especially as the Wolfsbane potion hadn't been invented yet and Hermione wasn't entirely sure on how to make it correctly.

"It sucks, huh?" Sirius agreed, rolling onto his back and did the backstroke lazily, keeping up with her pace.

They reached shore and Lily whipped out her wand, performing a spell so that Hermione and Sirius were instantly dry and warm, which Hermione was thankful for, she really was very cold.

"Come on, Hermione. We'll have a girly day, face-mask, cucumbers, manicures, pedicures – we can talk about boys and do our hair!" Lily said animatedly and Hermione groaned as Sirius laughed behind her and Lily linked arms, pulling her away.

"You owe me, Mr. Black!" Hermione said over her shoulder mock-glaring at him as he shrugged innocently.

"Have fun!" He called and Hermione stuck her tongue out at him. Remus had better appreciate her for this.

* * *

Remus felt a little bit like a convict, he thought, as he was escorted to the Whomping Willow across the grounds by Madame Pomfrey and he watched with envy the students who were milling around the lake, enjoying the day's bright sunshine while he had to stay in a shack that people thought was haunted.

He watched Carrie Green and Megara throw a Frisbee back and forth, laughing as the breeze blew speckles of water from the clear lake. He saw Sirius throw Hermione into the chilling water of the Lake before whipping his wand out, saying a spell and jumping in after her.

Him and Madame Pomfrey carried on, over the small hill and down towards the Whomping Willow – he looked up right into the blinding sun and wished that he could stay out here, join in his friends in the fun that they seemed to be having as Madame Pomfrey pointed her wand at a stick on the floor and it zoomed through the air, hitting the knot in the bark that made the branches freeze as it became vulnerable, allowing anybody to enter the secret at the base of the roots – if you knew where to look. Madame Pomfrey squeezed his shoulder and he smiled wanly at her before ducking under the slightly swaying overhead branches and climbing into the tunnel beneath it. He remembered in his first year, he was able to walk straight down this tunnel – now he was bent over almost doubly. The dust was making his nose itch and he fought the sudden feeling to sneeze, but he lost out and dust clouded his vision and his eyes watered violently. He lifted the trapdoor above his head silently and crept into the shrieking shack. In the future, after he left Hogwarts and didn't need the Shack anymore, it would become filled with dust, but now, it was perfectly clean and he settled himself on the floor below the boarded up window, waiting for his transformation to take place. The fact that it was happening during the day because the moon was out was really frustrating to him and dangerous to everybody else.

He knew the second that his transformation started; he felt his stomach churning as he dug his fingernails into his kneecaps as he huddled in on himself. The pain was so excruciating, but he was used to it after all these years and he was barely fazed when he felt pins-and-needles all over his body just as sandy coloured hairs pushed through his skin and he felt every single hair. He felt his face grew longer and distorted, as if somebody was stretching the skin and he let out his first whimper of pain. His limbs grew longer and limber, his back legs going slightly bow-legged as his body fell sideways to the floor and he withered in pain as he felt his vertebras shift as a shudder went through his entire body and his teeth grew longer, just as painful as the first time he grew a tooth after loosing one. His palms were beginning to itch and he glanced down to see that they were growing black and standing out of his skin – he had grown pads instead and they landed on the floor – he growled, which made the situation more real. The next and final part of the transformation was the most painful and he felt sudden fire flare up in his tailbone as his bones shifted violently and a tail emerged from behind him and he howled, bowing his back before his gaze shifted to black and white and he threw himself at the chair, sudden anger overtaking his senses.

He smashed the chair to pieces and gnawed one a piece of wood as the door lifted and a human entered the room, holding something small to his chest. He growled low in his throat, felt his hackles raise as he bared his teeth at the human man and another entered the room behind him. He pressed his ears flat to his head and crouched low to the floor.

The two humans grinned, looked at each other and suddenly…They were gone. Instead, a majestic stag stood before him, pawing the ground with its hoof in warning, head down and antlers pointed straight at him and a black, shaggy dog also had it's hackles raised, growling low. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw something scuttle under the broken piano.

Not humans. Animals. Friends. He let himself relax and saw the dog and stage do the same.

Friends…

His anger disappeared and he cautiously approached them, shocked when the dog licked his nose happily and he cocked his head to the side. Friends…

He howled again, his back arching once more before he leaped, jumping playfully on the dog who barked happily, his tail waggling furiously as the stag gently butted into his side and a rat scampered out from somewhere, entwining around their feet, being careful to not be trodden on. He wasn't angry anymore, or in pain, confused, upset – he was okay now. With his friends.

_A/N: It was time for Remus to speak up! I always wondered what Werewolfs would do when you can see the moon in the day time, and I saw that the full moon for March 24__th__ was 4:22pm, so I did it this way. _

_Also, I added the bit about Patronus' because it interests me – I love knowing who would have what patronus, so, if you're like me, here's the list of who had what out of the Gryffindor's and Slytherin's. :D_

_Sirius Black-Dog (Obvs)_

_Eric Crawler-Couldn't do it!_

_Kara Diamond-Couldn't do it!_

_Thomasina Eastwood-Giraffe (my fave animal ever!) _

_Lily Evans-Doe_

_Rayne Humes-Lemur _

_Euphoria Ingleton-Shrew_

_Megara Jones-Couldn't do it!_

_Hermione Kingsley-Otter_

_Remus Lupin-Wolf_

_Peter Pettigrew-Rat_

_James Potter-Stag_

_Severus Snape-Doe_

_Eleanor Tenure-Couldn't do it!_

_Haydn Westwood-Grey Hound_

_Hope you enjoy this chapter! _

_Kelly_

_xxx_


	44. Happy April Fools' Day!

**Disclaimer: **_Not mine _

**Weight of the World **

**Chapter 44**

Hermione's eyes slowly fluttered open and it took a second for her eyes to adjust to the bright, overhead light. She groaned and sat up slowly, rubbing her eyes with her forefinger and thumb before she flung her legs over the side of the bed and set her feet on the cold stone, standing up and stretching, her back arching as she felt her bones in her back click painfully and then relief coursed through her body and she smiled to herself.

"Good morning, Megara," she said. The girl in question was sat on her bed, brushing her hair and smiling in a way that made Hermione pause – it was like she knew something.

"Good morning, Hermione." She grinned, "why don't you use the bathroom? Everyone's still asleep." Hermione nodded in thanks, slightly weary before she made to head in the direction, but something was stopping her. She glanced down at the floor to see that it looked perfectly ordinary, just grey stone. So why couldn't she move her feet?

"_Tomorrow – it's Hell Day!" Rayne said dramatically, banging her hand against her bed sheets. Hermione, who had been reading at the time, put her book down and glanced over at her. _

"_Hell day?" She asked, raising her eyebrow and all the girls groaned as one. _

"_April the 1__st__ AKA: Aprils fools day, AKA: Hell Day." Thoma told her from where she sat in her own bed opposite Hermione's, stroking Cherry who was purring contently. "Nobody is safe from the antics of The Marauders. Not even Lily," Thoma nodded her head in Lily's direction, who was laid on her front on Megara's bed, shaking her head sadly. _

"_I would say that at least this is the last time we'll have to go through it, but Lily and Hermione will probably end up marrying their boys," Kara grinned, shifting her attention to her toenails, which she was currently painting yellow and black. "Oh, you poor unfortunate souls…"_

At the time, Hermione's mind was to busy taking in the word 'marrying' and occupied her for most of the night with different scenario's of different wedding scenes, to really take in the seriousness of the situation – She thought Fred and George were bad enough, but they never did anything like this.

"Sirius Orion Black!" She yelled, waving her arms frantically and the other girls in the room jerked awake, Rayne rolling off her bed and landing crouched on the floor, wand held hair and her eyes sleepy.

"Wasgoingon?" She asked, her words stringing together and Kara laughed joyfully, throwing the covers off herself and setting her foot on the floor.

"No!" Megara and Hermione cried and Hermione nearly toppled forewords.

"What?" Kara asked, her foot suspended over the floor.

"I – I can't move!" Thoma wailed and Megara shook her head.

"Well duh. What were you all thinking?" Megara asked and Hermione's gaze narrowed at the girl who was sat imposingly on her bed, legs crossed Indian style and a smug look on her heart shaped face.

"Well, sorry!" Kara said sarcastically, both hands wrapped around her legs and she was tugging harshly on it, trying to lift her foot from the floor, but it wasn't happening. Rayne slowly stood and smiled when she managed to achieve it without falling over.

"I don't like it!" Thoma cried and Hermione looked to see that she was fallen onto her bottom and that to, seemed to be stuck. She struggled frantically, her hand pressed to the floor and that became stuck to. Megara was laughing whole-heartedly on her bed until Kara whipped out her wand and pointed it at her, sending her flying off the bed where she landed on the floor with a heavy thud.

"Thanks for that," Megara mumbled, her voice hardly audible as her face was squished to the floor, but she didn't even attempt to struggle, instead she sighed deeply and closed her eyes.

"What are you doing?" Hermione asked, throwing her pillow at her and watching as it bounced off and landed on the floor, where Cherry jumped onto it from Thoma's bed and curled up, her fluffy white tail falling over her face so only her eyes could be seen. "Great…" She murmured, to far away to reach her wand to try any incantations. "SIRIUS!" She yelled and she could feel the anger flow throw her veins – she was not happy in the least.

"Well, hello Hermione dearest," he appeared just outside the room and leaned against the doorframe, crossing his arms over his chest and Hermione didn't even appreciate how nice he looked in the black button down shirt and black shirt…Much.

"Sirius, undo this! Now!" She said and she could hear Kara saying spells under her breath, but judging by the grumbling, she was unsuccessful.

"It isn't a spell, therefore there is no counter-curse," he said teasingly, his gaze resting on everybody and he snorted, trying to hold in his laughter when he saw Thoma who growled low in her throat. "Sorry, sorry," he said, but it was obvious from his tone that he didn't really mean it. His gaze collided with Hermione's and she sent him a death glare.

"I'm not in the mood for this Sirius! I want to be unstuck!" She demanded, pointing accusingly at him.

"Has anybody ever told you that it's rude to point?" He asked, grinning doggedly at her.

"Sirius!" She was slightly ashamed at the whiney tone of her voice, but she really wasn't in the mood to play this game right now – she knew that, as a prankster's girlfriend she would be prone to some pranks, but being stuck to the floor? No way did she sign up for that.

"Sorry, sweetheart, but I can't just let you go." The girls all moaned in annoyance and Hermione's jaw dropped open.

"Why not?" She asked, outraged.

"Because it wouldn't be much of a prank then, would it?" He said, and Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Well, you see, you've already pulled the prank," Megara mumbled, "so the gentlemanly thing to do would be to save us!" Her voice rose an octave with every word until she was clearly audible and, if she'd been stood up straight and not glued to the floor, she'd have stomped her foot.

"Hmm…" Sirius tapped his lips with his finger, as if pondering her suggestion before shrugging and reaching into his pocket, extracting a vial full of dark green liquid. "Okay." He threw the vial towards Kara who looked at it suspiciously before casting a charm on the potion – when it proved to be un-jinxed, she cautiously took a swallow before lifting her foot and grinned happily when it came away from the floor and she tossed it to Rayne before bolting, running past Sirius who barely raised an eyebrow. It carried on, each girl standing happily drinking the concoction before leaving the room, glaring at Sirius as they passed and Thoma handed Hermione the potion on the way past, leaving them alone in the room.

"Where's your happy side, Hermione?" He asked, rolling the sleeves of his shirt up, his hair obscuring his face as Hermione took a gulp of the liquid and she grimaced when it hit the back of her throat. It tasted worse then Polyjuice potion and she nearly gagged, wondering how the other girls weren't disgusted by the taste and she visibly shuddered.

"You know, now I'll never trust you again," Hermione said, placing her hands on her hips and mock-glaring at him and he saluted her playfully before extending his hand out to her.

"Err…A little help here? Please?" Hermione's eyes widened in shock when she realised that they had left Megara on the floor and she hurried over kneeling on the ground as Sirius entered the room, leaning against the post by Hermione's bed.

"Why aren't you getting stuck?" Hermione asked and Sirius shrugged a shoulder, keeping his grey eyes on Megara as she slowly pushed her upper body up and she cheered when she moved easily, not obstructed by anything.

"Because I wasn't given the potion – I gave it to you five, slipped it in your pumpkin juice last night," he smiled mischievously and Megara tensed before leaping at him, hitting him on his chest and arms, anger practically spitting from her eyes. He flinched and groaned, sounding very much in pain.

"Sirius?" She questioned, stopping her rain of punches when he hunched over and sat on the bed, breathing heavily through his nose. "I'm sorry! I didn't know-" Megara gasped, glancing down at her small hands in horror.

"Don't give yourself too much credit." He said through his gasps and Hermione dropped to the bed beside him, pressing her hands between his shoulder blades, rubbing smoothly. Megara frowned before turning on her heel (almost slipping in her socks) as she left the room.

"You've annoyed her now," Hermione said, easing onto the floor before him, taking his large hand in her small, dainty ones and pulling it away from his chest.

"I don't care. Hermione, no." He said, struggling slightly under her hold, but she cupped the side of his face and looked into his grey eyes and moved her hands to his chest, easily sliding the first button through the hole, moving onto the next one, the back of her fingers brushing his skin. "You won't wanna see, love," he warned, but made no move to stop her until his shirt lay open, her hands resting on his knees.

Hermione smiled reassuringly before dropping her gaze. What she should have noticed was his muscles under his tight web of creamy skin; how his stomach muscles rippled as he moved, hunching in on himself more as if embarrassed. Instead, what she saw were three long cuts that embedded into his flesh.

"Sirius," she whispered and gently placed her fingertips against one of the grazes and his body instinctively moved away from her touch. "What happened?" She asked, feeling her eyes tear up slightly – the thought of him hurt, and seeing it before her very eyes actually hurt _her_, it stung, a wave of physical pain washing over her as she took in the sight.

"Hey, no tears," he said, one hand cupping her face, his fingers entangling in his hair and he hunched foreword, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "Remus did it, when he was a werewolf. No biggie." He said, his breath brushing her hair lightly.

"Rem—Sirius, that was just over a week ago! These could scar!" She said worriedly, and Sirius sighed, wrapping his hands around her arms and lifting her bodily into his lap.

"They probably will do. Don't worry about it, Hermione, it isn't the first battle scar I've received." He grinned at her, his teeth looking suspiciously white. She didn't feel reassured in the slightest, but she agreed to let it go – for now.

She slid her hand over his heart, feeling the heat of his skin seep into her palm. "Have you even had these treated?" She gasped, worry that a fever was setting in.

"Of course I have…Kind of…" Hermione glared at him, demanding to know the truth and he sighed in resignation, pulling her closer and letting his hand run down her back soothingly. "Look, I can't go to Madame Pomfrey then she'll know that we hang out with Remus when he's a werewolf, and we could get expelled. So, we have potion's that take away the pain, get rid of the bruises, take care of the cuts – it's pretty standard." He told her and felt her sigh and relax against him. He let own body relax and closed his eyes in slight pain – unfortunately, the potion used to heal cuts was too weak to take care of this one full and he was out of pain potion and he was in desperate need of some.

"Come on," Hermione said, standing from his embrace and he missed the warmth that came from her body heat and she grasped his hands pulling him up. "They'll be missing us," she said softly, her hands feather light against his skin as she buttoned his shirt up for him again before wrapping her arms around her waist and leaning into him and he responded readily, wrapping his arms around her shoulder. He loved holding her, just being in her presence brightened his day, no matter how much pain he was in and, even though he sounded whipped, he wasn't ashamed to say it.

"Let's go then." He smiled and with his arm still around her shoulders, they headed back down the stairs. They could hear the chatter and the laughter of their friends before they stepped into the Common room they stopped cold, the room decorated a lot differently then the last time he'd seen it and he couldn't help but laugh.

There, strung up across the ceiling were twenty moving pictures, all showing Hermione and Sirius, their lips locked in a passionate embrace with Hermione pinned to the wall, her legs wrapped around his waist and James appeared out of nowhere, his hair short and extremely curly and Sirius snorted with laughter. "HAPPY APRIL FOOLS!" He yelled and handed Hermione a sweet which she didn't even pay attention to as she was to busy staring in slight horror as the picture Sirius picked up the picture Hermione and she wrapped her legs around his hips before the cycle started again.

"Take it down!" She said, glaring accusingly at Sirius and he raised his hands in surrender.

"I didn't do this," Sirius laughed, his cuts pulling painfully but he found it hard to stop. Remus, who was sitting in the corner of the couch, his hair brown and spiky like a porcupine with blonde tips was sniggering into his hand and he knew who the real culprit was.

"I don't care, take it down!" Hermione ordered, but Sirius could hear the humour in her voice.

"No! That, Miss Kingsley is some of my best photography work!" Remus yelled and Hermione rolled her eyes before inspecting the sweet in her hand.

"It's perfectly safe, Hermione, don't worry," Sirius said, collapsing into the armchair and taking one from a glass bowl in the centre of the table, popping it into his mouth and as soon as he bit into the sour lemon tasting sweet, it felt as if his hair was shooting back into his head and his eyes watered slightly.

"Oh, no! Sirius, no!" Hermione yelled laughing before moving to sit on the floor in front of him, settling her shoulders between his knees resting her back against the plush, red velvet.

"What's the verdict?" He asked the back of her head and she giggled before putting the sweet in her own mouth and Sirius watched as her hair turned light until it was bright orange and grow long, till it was to her hips. It looked strange from the back and he could only imagine what his own hair looked like.

By then end of the night, every possible prank could have gone down – the pumpkin juice in the great hall had been spiked and the other Gryffindor's traipsed in, shooting glares at The Marauders, who cackled once they saw the whiskers that everyone was supporting; Sirius caught a glimpse of his bright green Mohican in the mirror whilst playing Hop Scotch, a game that Lily and Hermione were forcing them all to play; and whoopee cushions had been brought out and Peter went as red as his makeshift hair.

"See! April Fools day isn't so bad!" James said, patting Rayne on the head and messing up her purple curls and Thoma was stood by the mirror beside the Fire-place, inspecting her new bubblegum pink curls.

"Yeah, today. Probably because you don't want Lily or Hermione to leave you – admit it, that's the real reason!" Megara yelled and Sirius couldn't deny the claim. It was very, very true that they'd toned down for the girls this year. But only this year!

"So what if we did?" James asked, pressing a kiss to Lily's temple and she smiled. Peter made a whip noise in the background and Sirius clicked his tongue in annoyance at the pudgy boy, who shrugged innocently.

"We should probably get to bed," Megara said, standing and stretching, "we've been here all day." Sirius looked at his watch and saw that it was indeed true – it was half past ten at night. He didn't want to go to bed though, he wanted to stay with Hermione.

"Hey," he leaned down and whispered in her ear, pushing her now orange hair behind her ear, "fancy another date?"

"What? Now?" She asked, turning her head to the side so that her lips hovered by his.

"Yeah. Come on, Hermione! Live life on the edge!" He said and stood, grasping her shoulders in his hands and hauled her up, settling her on her own two feet before taking her hand and leading her out of the common room. The glamour that had been placed on them from the sweets disappeared the second the stepped over the threshold and past the portrait and Sirius had never been so happy to see his long black hair fall around his shoulders.

"Where are we going?" Hermione asked and she sounded a little dejected.

"Hey…Are you okay?" He asked, stopping, pulling on her arm so that she couldn't move foreword anymore.

"Yeah," she said unconvincingly before looking down at the ground and scuffing the floor with her foot, her curly brown hair falling foreword. "It's just – It's silly, really, I – I just miss them, that's all." Sirius felt a pang of guilt: She'd told him that she'd gone back to her time and had the choice to stay there, but instead she came back here. To him.

"Hermione," he said, tugging her closer and letting her lean on him – she'd been quiet for a while, but he hadn't thought about it being this.

"No, it's okay. I mean, it's not okay because I miss them but…They're okay, you know I'm going to make sure of it," she said against his clavicle and Sirius shivered as her breath brushed over his skin.

"You'll do amazingly, Hermione." Sirius grinned before he carried on walking, still hugging Hermione so she was forced to walk backwards and their feet got tangled together before they toppled to the floor, Sirius turning in the air on instinct to take the heat of the fall and Hermione sprawled across her chest. She giggled and leaned her elbow on his chest, her hair falling over her shoulder, creating a bubble around them, shielding from the world. He leaned his upper body up, leaning back on his elbows as he arched his neck and his lips found Hermione's in a soft, sweet kiss that made his heart stutter before beating wildly.

"You know," she whispered as she broke away, lightly pecking his lips again, her hands cupping his jaw. "I really, really like you." She played her words back to him and he grinned, his heart warming at her words – it seemed to be their way of saying _the _three words, which Sirius had yet to say to her.

"I love you, too." He said back. It felt right, to say it to her in the moonlit corridor in Hogwarts, laying on the cold, hard floor with her warm body pressed to his. "I love you, too." He repeated, truly meaning the words before they indulged in a passionate kiss, the look on Hermione's face saying it all - she was happy. And that is what his goal in life became the second that she stepped into his life. To make her happy.

And he will. If it's the last thing he ever does, she will be happy.

_A/N: Okay, this was just a fun, filler chapter until we get the the good stuff – the next two chapters have been written and I'll post them in the next days – On Sunday, I'm going on holiday for a week, so I'm trying to write as much as I can to give you something to read and I'll still write on holiday – I love this story to much that not writing anything for a week is about impossible for me!_

_Anyways, I hope you like it! Just a celebration of April Fools day, which we don't really celebrate in my town :/_

_Happy reading!_

_Kelly_

_xxx_


	45. First Arguments

**Disclaimer: **_Not mine_

**Weight of the World**

**Chapter 45**

April 12th 1978

They were sat in the Great Hall, the chatter amongst the students indistinguishable to anyone else and Hermione shook her head, rubbing her left eye where she was developing a twitch. Why she had unattractive facial ticks was because of stress on the upcoming N.E.W.T exams, something that had seemingly crept up on her and she needed to study desperately, but the man on her left was making it hard with his hand on her thigh, rubbing his thumbs in circles that were very distracting.

"Oh great, mails here!" Peter said enthusiastically, pointing towards the pack of owls that had flown in through the window at the top of the Great Hall and they flew towards the students, dropping parcels, letters, newspapers, occasionally landing on their owner's shoulder or dropping to the table for money or food. Hermione was so used to the interruption so she wasn't bothered and carried on reading – well, she attempted to with Sirius' damn distracting touch. She was on the verge of yelling at him when a barn owl landed beside her, looking at her with wide, amber eyes before hopping towards Lily and sticking it's leg out. Lily looked confused before slowly putting her toast down (which the owl immediately pecked at) and untied the red, hastily tied ribbon and unrolled the letter as the bird took off in a flurry of feathers.

"Who's it from, Lil?" James asked from opposite her, cutting into his sausage, his hazel eyes questioning.

"I don't know yet, James. I haven't read the letter," Lily teased and her bright green eyes scanned the page. Hermione noticed her demeanour change, as did James, who climbed over the table to sit in the seat next to her and he placed his hand on her shoulder reassuringly. Her body tensed and her breathing became laboured as her eyes moved quickly, zipping back and forth across the page before tears fell, marring her cheeks.

"Lily?" Hermione asked her friend and she slammed the letter to the table harshly, drawing a few people's attention before a sob tore from her throat and she ran, James following close behind her, a worried look on his face. Hermione made to get up, to follow, but Sirius' restraining hand on her leg stopped her.

She glared at him before pushing his hand away and crossing her arms. "What the Hell, Sirius?" She asked angrily, annoyed that she couldn't go and comfort her best friend.

"James has it covered. Come on," he told her, standing and walking out of the Great Hall, the letter clasped in his fist. She hurried after him, abandoning her books and bag, deciding that this was slightly more important then lessons.

They left the entrance hall when Sirius wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her into an abandoned classroom.

"Sirius, you're not actually going to read that, are you?" Hermione asked, leaning against the door.

Sirius raised his eyebrows at her and smoothed out the paper, his grey eyes beginning to move across the page. Hermione didn't feel right doing this – it was like an invasion of Lily's privacy; maybe she didn't want people knowing what was on that sheet of paper. Hermione would detest it if somebody read her letters and she didn't know if she could fathom the guts to actually read the loopy writing that she could see on the page.

Suddenly, Sirius looked up, his grey eyes looked as if they were spitting fire and then he was real close, up in her personal space and she blinked in shock. Sirius would never hurt her, she knew that, but it was still frightening all the same. "Did you know?" He growled and Hermione frowned; she could honestly say that she had no idea what Sirius was talking about. He shoved the letter into her hand and she knew that she had to read it. By the end of it her hands were shaking and she was finding it a bit difficult to draw breath. "Did you know?" Sirius repeated, although his tone had softened.

"No." she said. She should have done really, it's so blatantly obvious. She should have known that Lily's mother was going to die. After all, Harry's only living family relatives were the Dursley's. Sirius sighed and pulled her into a gentle hug, but his accusation had been too much and she felt like she'd been punched. She shrugged out of his grasp and the paper fell to the floor, Petunia's loopy handwriting facing her, accusing her. Another person she'd failed to save. "I never really thought…How could I be so stupid?…" She mumbled to herself, pacing backwards and forewords.

"Hermione, sweetheart, I'm sorry," Sirius said and Hermione could hear it in his voice and knew he was being sincere, but she couldn't shake the sting. "I really am." She shook her head and turned to leave before a thought struck her. If Harry had no Grandparents then that meant that they were three other people who were going to die.

Hermione gasped at the realisation, her mind working frantically as she tried to think of a plan, but without knowledge of when, how or why they died, she was a little stuck.

"What, what is it?" Sirius asked and Hermione whirled around to face him – how was she supposed to say this?

"James parents' and Lily's dad...Sirius, I think they're going to die as well!" She blurted it out and felt her skin flush – why was she acting this way? Probably because she had the ability to stop three people from dying and that would drastically change the future.

Sirius stared at her in total shock, blinking once before he seemed to come to his senses and he reached for her hand, pulling her away from the door as he opened it and he pulled her out.

"What are you doing?" She asked, pulling back on his arms and her back hit the stone concrete wall, his arms framing her as he fell, trying to stop himself.

"What do you mean what am I doing? Hermione, we have to go tell someone! Dumbledore or Quinton!" He said angrily before pushing away from the wall and running down the corridor, Hermione hot on his heels – she knew that frantic rushing now was pointless, it wasn't as if all three were gonna die today, but they had to tell someone, to get there now. They reached the gargoyle, Hermione holding a stitch in her side, wheezing slightly, but Sirius didn't even look winded.

"Password?" The gargoyle hissed and Sirius faltered, his eyes glancing to Hermione who couldn't talk properly to give him the password. He reached out for her, but she flinched, not in the mood for his touches and he backed off, shoving his hands in his trouser pockets and Hermione saw the flash of hurt and felt guilt coarse through her, but she refused to apologize. Mainly because she couldn't talk at the second and because she was getting tired of his accusations – if she'd known did he really think that she'd let them die? "Password?" The Gargoyle said again impatiently, rolling its stone eyes at the pair.

"Lemon…Dro-ops." She gasped out and the gargoyle sprang to the side, allowing them entrance and together, she and Sirius ran up the stairs and opened the door to Dumbledore's office and it banged against the wall, bouncing back on itself, but Sirius stopped it with his arm.

Dumbledore didn't even look up, carrying on with his writing, his quill scratching against the parchment and Hermione and Sirius felt awkward – what were they supposed to say?

"I'll be with you in a minute," he said conversationally, snapping the long fingers on his left hand and two chairs appeared in front of his desk and Hermione and Sirius exchanged glances before sitting in them, Hermione sitting in the same seat as always, the arm chair soft and squishy with a floral upholstery design while Sirius' chair was pink and puffy and he didn't look happy at all about sitting in it and Hermione couldn't help the smirk. Having found themselves go from a frantic pace to sitting idly as they waited for Dumbledore was disconcerting and, quite frankly, felt quite weird. Eventually, Dumbledore's writing slowed to a stop until he placed his quill down gently on the desk, shuffled the papers before looking at them seriously, his lips pinched together tightly. "Now, what can I do for you?"

"Well, you see sir, Lily's mother just died and err, well – I know that her father will die to and so will James parents." Hermione told him and he sighed deeply, leaning back into his chair.

"Poor Miss Evans," he said sadly, shaking his head, "to loose a mother so young – is so tragic. How did she die?" He asked and Hermione swallowed sharply.

"Petunia just said that she was found dead on the pavement outside their house, no visible marks." Sirius said, tapping a rhythm on the arm rest of the pink armchair and he jiggled his left leg.

"Well, that is most unfortunate…When will the others die?" Dumbledore asked just as Fawkes soared across the room and landed on the back of Hermione's chair, it's call echoing through the room.

"I don't know, sir. I just know that…I know that they'll die." Beside her, Sirius closed his eyes tightly and Hermione was overcome with sadness for him – The Potter's were like a second set of parents to him.

"Right, well, I'll have an auror posted outside their homes 24 hours, seven days a week – Maybe Kingsley would like it and Longbottom – they are the most patient auror's that we have in these times." He said, standing swiftly and Hermione processed the name…Longbottom…For a mad second, she thought that he was referring to Neville and she had a vivid image of him waiting on the pavement outside a house, probably shooting sparks into his own foot when he heard a noise. Then it dawned on her, slowly, like her vision just coming back to her after she'd stood up to fast and her vision went temporarily black.

"Frank…" Dumbledore looked at her from the mantle-place, eyebrows raised and hand poised over the Floo powder. "Frank Longbottom! He's…Oh, my God him and his wife, Alice are going to be tortured to insanity in a few years by Bellatrix, to the point where they can't recognise their own son." Her hands entangled in her curly hair as she breathed heavily. She knew she was acting like a fool, but she was powerless to stop the feeling of helplessness seeping into her body – all these people that she hadn't even blinked at, she'd been so consumed with The Marauders and Lily and _their _future, that she didn't let her mind think of anybody else.

"Come on, Hermione," Sirius said lightly, grasping her elbows and gently pulling her up and she didn't stop him, despite her annoyance at him she trusted him whole-heartedly to steer her straight. As soon as the door closed behind them, they heard the flare of the Floo and Kingsley's deep voice echoed thorough the room, audible to the people on the other side. Once they got to the corridor, Sirius let his hands drop and shoved them in the pocket of his trousers while Hermione's hung limply by her sides.

An awkwardness had settled between them and Hermione knew why – she was mad at him. Not enough to shout and scream, like when her and Ron were mad at each other, but enough to not want to speak to him at the minute. She really was tired of his accusations.

"Look, Hermione, I'm sorry," he said sincerely and she knew that he meant it; that's what made him different from every other boy-_man_ that she knew – when he was in the wrong he'd admit it and apologize. She let out a breath through her nose slowly and closed her eyes before turning and wrapping her arms around his waist and he embraced her immediately.

"I know you are," she whispered into his chest, her hands placed lightly over his cuts and he dropped his cheek to rest on the top of her head.

"Listen…Maybe…Hermione, maybe we should tell James and Lily?" He said tentatively, "they have a right to know – "

"What? My secret?" She said, pulling away from him as her annoyance ricochet off the charts, "Sirius, no," she told him, but his grip in her shoulders tightened.

"Why not? Hermione, James' parents are gonna die and you don't think he should be told?" He said, somewhat desperately, "it's not something that I think I can keep from him." He admitted and Hermione turned her gaze away, grasping his forearms.

"Well, you have to." She said with finality and briskly walked away, heading for the closest female bathroom where he couldn't follow. Then again, knowing Sirius he probably would.

Once she reached the sanctuary of the bathroom, she was pleased to see nobody else there – probably because everyone was in Transfiguration, where she should be now. She sighed and leaned her hands on the sink, looking at her reflection in the fogged up mirror. She understood why Sirius wanted to tell James, probably for the same reason that she wanted to tell Lily – to brace them if they fail to save their parents, but she couldn't do it. It was one thing telling Sirius, telling Quinton, Dumbledore…She could do that. But look Lily in the eyes and tell her that she'd failed to save her mother…She couldn't do that.

"Who are you?" Hermione whirled around, startled and there, hovering above a cubicle, was Moaning Myrtle. She hardly believed it, but of course it made sense – she had been killed in the 40's. She was there, her long dark, limp hair hung in ponytails and her acne ridden skin was see-through.

"What do you want?" She asked the ghost tiredly, not in the mood for Myrtles antics today – or ever again, really, as the two never got on at all in her own time.

"Well, excuse me!" Myrtle snapped, crossing her arms over her chest, "forgive me for being curious! Oh, let's snap at Myrtle because we _can, _because she'd dead. Oooooooh…" Her face crumpled and she wailed, crying a river of tears before she flew up into the air, circled the cubicles, and dived into a toilet, water splashing all over the ceramic floor.

Hermione stared, realising quite quickly that Myrtle's tether was relatively shorter in this time then her own before she felt anger. Deep, deep anger, bubbling in the pit of her stomach, but why, she wasn't sure. She just…lashed out and before she knew it, her fist hit the mirror and it shattered into a million pieces.

"What's got you so smashy?" someone behind her asked and she turned to see who it was. There, stood in the doorway stood Regulus, who was looking at the mirror shards, his eyebrows raised. "You might wanna save up some of that anger, Kingsley. Let's go." He gestured with his head and Hermione's fist unclenched in her confusion. Where were they going? "Horcruxes, Hermione," he said like he was talking to a four year old.

"Where is it?" She asked, rubbing her face with her hand, focusing her attention on Sirius' less attractive double.

"Not at Hogwarts." He told her.

"I can't leave the grounds." She said, rubbing the back of her neck. "Won't the Horcrux be guarded like the Diadem was supposed to be?" She asked, moving closer towards him.

"It is. Don't worry, I can get us in." He reassured her and dug around in the pocket of his black trousers, pulling out a black skinned pouch that made a lot more noise then it should when it shook it. "Don't you trust me?" He asked and Hermione was tempted to say no, but she knew that the answer was yes, especially after they destroyed the Diadem.

She nodded reluctantly and followed after him, trusting him like she trusted her brother.

Who evidently, didn't trust her back.

_A/N: Okay, I wrote this to show that, while Sirius and Hermione are very much in love, they can still have arguments - Hermione's stressed, Sirius is scared/frustrated - they'll clash. And I forgot that Harry didn't have grandparents, so thought that now would be a good time to put that in. Hope you enjoy!_

_Kelly_

_xxx_


	46. Malfoy Mannor

**Disclaimer: **_Not Mine_

**Weight of the World**

**Chapter 46**

Hermione walked beside Regulus, her head just barely brushing his shoulder and she realised that he was actually taller then Sirius, but only by a few inches with her boyfriend pushing 5ft 11.

"Why don't we just tell Dumbledore?" She asked, tilting her head up to look into his face properly.

"And we will do. When we get back. But right now, he's busy with Kingsley and Longbottom sorting out arrangements for protection against Evan's and Potter's parents," he explained as he brushed some of his hair out of his grey eyes.

"Okay, how do you even know that?" She asked, resisting the urge to put her hands on her hips.

"Because I listen, Kingsley. I listened to you say the password to the gargoyle and snuck up there while you and Sirius had your little tiff." He rolled his eyes and walked a bit faster, forcing Hermione to quicken her steps, lengthening her strides until she was practically power-walking beside him.

"It wasn't a tiff." Hermione sniffed, "we just had a slight disagreement that's all."

"Right. That's why you smashed the mirror and Sirius had a hell of a time in the boy's bathroom – its to a worse degree by far. But to be fair, he did use magic." Hermione felt bad for Sirius and she realised that she'd acted out of turn, lashed out at him because she was slightly annoyed – she needed to find him.

"Wait here." She said, before turning and running down what she recognized was the Third Floor corridor and she heard him yell behind her to 'hurry up' and that he 'wasn't waiting all day.' While he and Sirius looked alike, they weren't similar in personality and that made her appreciate Sirius that much more.

She ran as fast as she could and got to the floor with Dumbledore's office just in time to see Sirius walk slowly out of the boy's bathroom and she practically launched herself at him, nearly knocking him to the floor with her unexpected weight.

"I'm sorry," she said into his chest, her hands clutching the material of his cloak on either side of her head, not letting him move away from her. She didn't have to worry about that as Sirius's hands cupped her face and pulled her head up, pressing his lips intensely to hers. This kiss was demanding and he swept his tongue inside her mouth possessively, one hand moving to the back of her head as he pushed her roughly into the grey wall, taking the force of the hit protecting her. She could always count on Sirius for that. Hermione responded happily before they broke apart and leaned her forehead against his shoulder, breathing harshly through her nose. Her whole being, her whole energy focused on the man pressing his warm, muscular body into hers, his breath whispering against his temple, his heart beating quickly underneath her hand and his arms wrapped securely around her. Here, with him, she felt safe and she wanted nothing more then to curl into his warmth in front of the fire and just lay with him for a while, but she had to go. She and Regulus had another Horcrux to destroy. "I have to go," she rasped and he nodded roughly, his hair brushing her cheek and pulled away.

"Where you off to?" His voice sounded hoarse, like he'd been shouting for a while and she raised herself to her tiptoes, pressing a chaste kiss to his lips.

"Horcrux." He said and Sirius closed his eyes tightly, his lips pinched.

Hermione broke away and grasped his hand in hers, squeezing it before she loosened her grip, about to let go but Sirius tightened his own hold and pulled her body back into his, where she belonged and kissed the side of her face as he said, "Be safe, love. Please." Hermione heard the underlining appeal in his voice and she nodded intending to do just as he said. She moved out of his embrace slowly, savouring the feeling of his arms about her and ran back to Regulus, happy that Sirius didn't question her. After she'd told him about the Diadem, he said nothing to her but questions for an hour and, after she refused to answer them for an hour other then the question "Are you sure you're okay?" he seemed to have got the message.

"You took your time." Regulus said from where he was leaning against the wall next to the statue of the One-Eyed Witch and Hermione knew where they were going.

"Okay, Regulus. Where is it?" She asked, knowing that this Horcrux would be a lot harder to get then the Diadem.

Regulus straightened his tie before running his fingers through his hair, "Malfoy Manner."

Oh. It had just gotten a whole lot harder.

* * *

They had climbed into the One-Eyed witch passageway and walked through the tunnel in complete silence witch to Hermione felt awkward and unneeded, but she was to consumed with thoughts of Sirius to really be bothered to talk, cursing herself for her stupidity of acting irrationally.

After about an hour they reached Hogsmeade and Regulus placed his finger to her lips in a gesture for her to be quiet as he lifted the loose tile above their heads looking into HoneyDukes cellar. "It's all clear." He said and shoved the tile to the side, grasping the edges of the whole and hauling himself out. "Need any help?" He asked as Hermione pulled her own body out after him, standing beside him. "Guess not – you ready?"

"Not really." She answered but she climbed the stairs before her, sneaking past the woman at the counter and opening the door, Regulus behind her all the way. "Won't you get in trouble being seen with a Mudblood?" She snapped as Regulus took his pouch out of his pocket and put his hand in it, his arm disappearing up to his elbow.

"Probably. Which is what _this_ is for." He took out a vial of purple liquid and shook it up before uncorking it and tipping his head back, its contents spilling down his throat. Hermione watched as his features bubbled and distorted, his hair going lighter, shooting back into his scalp; his grey eyes darkened till they were almost black and his nose grew bigger and larger as he shrank a few inches. He looked unrecognizable.

"Whose hair did you take?" She asked, not at all fazed by the change and she looked at him curiously.

"A random person that I saw here the other day." Regulus coughed before loosening his tie, the striped ends hanging down his chest.

"Oh, how nice. How are we supposed to get to Malfoy Manner?" She asked, looking around as if the answer would pop up out of nowhere.

"We're flying of course," he said shrugging, extracting a broomstick out of his pouch and let it hover by his hips while he closed the pouch and shoved it back into his pocket. Hermione actually felt the blood rush from her face at the prospect of flying, suspended over the ground with only a stick stopping her from falling to her death. "Take off your robe."

"Excuse me?" She asked, a bit of fire coming back to her as she comprehended the ridiculous demand.

"Oh, don't flatter yourself," Regulus rolled his eyes and gestured with his hands to her robes, but she crossed her arms over her chest and refused to do as he said. "I'm not interested in you. They're too much weight – if you want to fall off the broom, be my gues-"

"Okay!" She interrupted, throwing her hands up, "fine." She mumbled and Regulus grinned in victory as she moved her hands to the edges of the robes and let them slide off her shoulders, pooling to the ground around her ankles.

Regulus gripped the handle and threw his leg over the wood, shifting his balance so he was sat astride it, his toes skimming the ground as he waited for her to climb on behind him. She did so nervously, wrapping her arms tight around his waist just as the broom lowered and kicked off and she screamed – she was not a fan of heights and she hated this – hated everything about this and once they landed she was going to smack him upside the head.

"How are we gonna get from Hogsmeade, which is in Scotland, by the way, to Malfoy Manner?" She screamed over the wind rushing in her ears and let out another mini-scream when Regulus titled the broom sharply to the left, tree's quickly moving underneath her and the cold wind biting into her skin.

"We're not flying all the way there, you idiot!" He yelled and Hermione's jaw dropped at the insult – if she hadn't been frozen out of fear, she'd have punched him in the back.

"Well then what the Hell are we doing?" The wind was whipping at her face and it felt like thousands of tiny little needles that didn't really hurt, but were extremely uncomfortable that she wished would go away, like a buzz that flew passed your ear every second.

"Kingsley, we're going to that house there!" He pointed to a beautiful two storey white house with a wrap around porch and a garden swing, but Hermione didn't have time to notice it as when Regulus let go of the broom, it shot backwards and dropped a few feet. Regulus laughed and Hermione felt her stomach flip.

They landed just on the garden outside and Hermione toppled off the broom, the ground shifting underneath her feet and she blanched – she despised flying.

"And, in we go." Regulus said, getting off the broom with ease, leaving it to levitate above the ground as he wiped his hands on his trousers, climbing up the steps to the house. At times, she was envious of people with skill on a broom and she hated that it was one of the only things that she actually failed at.

She shakily followed Regulus up the steps, clutching at the white banister. "Who lives here?" She asked, one hand pressed to her stomach that seemed to be moving.

"You'll see." Regulus said, taking out his wand and pressing it to the lock, "_Alohamora" _he whispered and the door clicked, signalling that it was open. Regulus grinned and grasped the door handle, pulling it open and entering the house, Hermione cautiously following.

"Don't you think it's a little barbaric? Sneaking into somebody's house? In the morning, no less." She whispered, her hand grasping the back of his shirt.

"Not in the least. Nobody's in here." Regulus said in his normal voice and stepped towards the fireplace in the middle of the pale blue living room.

"How do you know that? Reg, they could be upstairs or something?" She pressed.

"Did you just call me Reg?" He looked back over his shoulder at her, eyebrow quirked.

"Of all the things, that's what you pick up on?" She asked incredulously, but she felt suddenly awkward and out of place.

"No, Kingsley, there's nobody upstairs," he said, leaning against the wall beside the mantle-piece, his now blonde hair falling in front of his eyes.

"But how do you know?" She persisted – she didn't understand how he knew that this house was empty; in fact, his whole knowledge was extensive and Hermione found it both disturbing and reassuring.

"Look around you. Look at the photo's, Hermione, who do you see?" He asked, gesturing with his arm around the spacious living room and her eyes where drawn to aphoto hanging on the left wall in a pine frame – A man with short, spiky black hair and a cheeky grin lounged in a recliner chair, a woman with wavy blonde hair and big brown eyes was sitting on the arm, smiling lovingly at the man. She'd seen this picture before, she recognized these people, knew who they were. Her gaze shifted to another photo of a little girl with dirty blonde hair in pigtails, big green eyes with a lollipop in her hand, laughing at something off camera. She knew this girl as well, a girl whose mother and father had been cruelly taken away from her – but who was she?

Her mind went into overdrive, trying to identify who these people where, who she knew. The next picture told her – the blonde woman was stood next to a girl with mid length-feathered brown hair and dark green eyes, their arms wrapped around each other, looking nothing alike but the family resemblance was striking.

"This is Kaelyn's house! Olivia's sister!" Hermione whirled around, staring in slight horror at the man leaning against the wall and he nodded solemnly. "How did you even know it was here?" She asked, feeling like an intruder.

"I told you already, Hermione – I ask." He said in a no-nonsense tone and Hermione felt herself bristle. It wasn't right to step in this house and, now that she knew who owned it, she could practically feel the echo's of past life in this house and she became slightly frightened.

"Who did you ask for this?" She asked, her eyes landing on a photo of Kaelyn and Noel's wedding day, the same one she saw at her father's house when her and Sirius when to go see Heather.

"He asked me, Hermione," Regulus' gaze slid to a point over her shoulder and Hermione whipped her head around to see a tall boy, with high cheekbones, dark skin, brown eyes and long eyelashes stood behind her, his arms crossed across his broad chest, his leather jacket bunched around his arms.

Morgan.

Hermione's mouth open and closed in shock for a second before she let out a scream of frustration. "What, is he on it to now? Regulus, where do you get off dragging innocent people into this?" Hermione yelled, her eyes alight with fire and anger.

"Dragging him into this? Hermione, he offered!" Regulus yelled, pushing away from the wall and moving into her personal space, forcing her to look up to stare into his dark eyes.

"So what, you just told him all about this?" She yelled, gesturing to him where he still stood in the doorway of the living room, not moving at all or making a sound, watching them with about as much interest as one pays a dozing cat – not very much.

Regulus rolled his eyes and crossed his own arms, getting defensive as Hermione placed her hands on his hips. "No, Hermione, he already knew."

Hermione sighed and rubbed her forehead, resting her weight on one foot. This was getting ridiculous.

"Don't you think it's a little random, dropping Morgan into the middle of this? And where have you been anyway?" She asked Morgan, who blinked at being addressed to, his attention had obviously been elsewhere. "I haven't seen you in about a month."

"I've been around." He said slowly, like he didn't really want to answer, but he knew that Hermione would push the subject – so he answered it in the vaguest way possible.

"Random? Hermione, listen to me very carefully I'm about to tell you a story –"

"Why don't we just show her instead?" Morgan interrupted Regulus' childish tone and his gaze snapped back to Morgan.

"Are you mad?"

"Far from it. But if I'm going to be working with her to destroy Voldie, don't you think she has a right to know." He shot Regulus a look, the one that said _'I'm-gonna-do-this-anyway-no-matter-what-you-say' _and Regulus sighed, lifting his hands in surrender.

"Do what you want." He said, turning his back on the two and collapsing into a ladder-back light wooded chair at a round table to the side of the room and Hermione noticed the flowers sitting in the crème vase were freshly picked.

She looked back at Morgan and had a mini-heart attack to see him taking off his leather jacket, throwing it over the back of the couch before his right hand fell to the sleeve of his left arm and he rolled it up, exposing his left forearm and the Dark Mark that was carved into his skin, inked black, permanent and forever there.

"Oh, My God…" She said under her breath and Morgan covered it up, looking slightly ashamed. She knew this was going to happen, that he was going to join the Death Eaters, but she had always thought that he'd been asked by Dumbledore to do it after he'd joined the order – not join them under his own volition.

"Remember the five Death Eaters in the school that I mentioned?" Regulus said form the table, his finger tracing random patterns on the wood, "now you know the identities of two." His voice was sombre and Hermione rubbed the back of her neck.

"Does he know about…About me?" She asked Regulus, who still had his back to them.

"I do. Every Death Eater does, you're number one on the hit list." Morgan said, perching on the arm of the crème couch.

Hermione's brain whirled before she closed her eyes in annoyance. "So three other people in the school know," it wasn't a question, merely a fact that Hermione wished she had no knowledge of. Morgan nodded his eyes downcast and Hermione sighed. "Okay. You're in. What do we do?" She asked and Regulus stood up from the table, carefully picking up the vase and placing it on the radiator attached to the wall, arranging the flowers quickly and reaching for his pouch in his trouser pocket. Morgan moved to stand beside her, his hands in his jean pocket and he rocked back onto his heels as Hermione looked up at him. He looked older, so much older, hardened lines where across his face and his brown eyes lost their sparkle.

"Okay folks, this is the plan." Regulus said, interrupting Hermione's thoughts and spreading what looked like a blue-print across the table, smoothing out the wrinkles just as his skin bubbled and the hands went back to their original shape.

"Wait…What was the point of taking it before?" Hermione asked, moving closer to the Slytherin.

"So that people didn't know it was me," he said in a 'duh' tone of voice and Hermione's eyes did a 360 turn in their sockets.

"Well, why not give me any?" She asked and Regulus looked at her through his eyelashes and grinned.

"You're kinda cute the way you are." Hermione had to resist the urge to roll her eyes at his flirtatious tone and almost failed.

"You just wanted to save your own hide, right?" She asked, sitting down at one of the other chairs, Morgan sitting across from her, pretty much ignoring her and Regulus' banter.

"You can see right through me," he said, his hand reaching out and ruffling her hair, which she was very annoyed at. "Now, the plan. Are you prepared to go in there, Hermione?" He asked, "because if not, I'll go." He said with such conviction that Hermione believed that, for her well-being, he would do this for her. Which, after all she'd heard about Regulus from Sirius came as a bit of a shock to her.

"No, I'll do it," she said – something inside her needed to do this, to get that Horcrux.

"Okay. Me and Morgan'll get you through the wards, Hermione. You'll have a Disillusionment charm on you, but once you break the boundaries of the house and step past the threshold you'll be detected, so you have to act fast." Regulus warned and Hermione nodded, "Morgan will distract them, leading them a different way to where you're going and that, my fine friend is here." He pointed to a the blueprint which Hermione quickly came to realise was of Malfoy Manor and she saw that it was in the Drawing Room – up the stairs before the door, turn right and it's the third door on the left. Easy. She could do that.

Still, her stomach came alive with butterflies and her heart beat quickened; she was petrified, although she tried not to show it. This would be pretty much impossible, she realised and she wished deeply that Sirius was here with her, but for his own safety, she didn't allow him to come with her – not that he was pleased with this, in fact, he'd fought her tooth and nail on the subject and right now, she desperately wished that she'd given in.

"Okay, you go in, destroy the ring and come out. They'll probably be some enchantments on it, but none that you can't get past, I'm sure." Regulus said, "jump out the window, don't worry, I'll be your safety net – I'll catch you."

"Sounds good," Hermione nodded, but she felt her heart drop to her stomach, "one question though," she tapped her chin in a gesture that suggested she was thinking, "how exactly am I supposed to destroy it?" Her voice rose with every syllable in her annoyance and she glared at Regulus fir casting such an impossible task on her. Sneak in? Sure. Find it? Alright. Destroy it? How on Earth was she supposed to do that?

"With this," Morgan slammed something onto the table before her, one arm leaning on the wood as he looked at her, eyebrows raised and her gaze dropped to the curled, white fang before her, its tip almost pulsing. A Basilisk fang. "You can pick up practically anything on the Black Market these days."

"Why are you doing this Morgan? I mean, to choose this life? That's an insult to Olivia's memory, don't you think?" She knew instantly that this was the wrong thing to say as Morgan slammed his fist to the table and stood up quickly, the chair he was sat on flying behind him, titling and crashing to the floor.

"Morgan-" Regulus tried to intervene, but Morgan shot him a look that, if looks could kill, Regulus would be six feet under by now.

"Maybe you don't get it," Morgan growled, his fists clenching by his sides, "I need to get them, Hermione. The men who killed them, who killed her!" He pointed angrily towards the photo's on the wall and Hermione felt for him – he's doing this, all of this for Olivia. She bowed her head and said no more, trying to get across to the angry man that she didn't mean it. When he let out an aggravated sigh and collapsed onto the chair that had been righted again, Hermione looked up and smiled sadly.

"Okay – now that that's over with, let's go." Regulus said, rolling up the blue-print and clapping his hands, moving to the marble fireplace.

"Wait – we're going now?" She asked, looking at her watch – it was 11:30 in the morning.

"Of course we're going now – they won't expect it right now. Besides, the newer Death Eaters patrol the perimeter during the day and the stronger, more loyal ones do sure during the night." Morgan informed her, gesturing to Regulus who was pulling robes out of the bag and shoving them into his arms before uncorking another vial and letting the contents pour down his throat. Hermione watched, mildly fascinated as he grew at least 8 inches, gained about a 100 pounds and his nose became crooked. He grinned at Hermione, some of his teeth missing and took out his wand, tapping the top of his head and his disappeared into the background, his body taking on that of a chameleon's as he changed to suit his surrounding and Hermione could only see him if she stared straight at where he was stood and she could ripples through the air.

"Now you." His voice floated to her and she felt something tap the top of her head hard and it felt as if someone had just broken an egg on her scalp and the contents were running down her face and neck.

"Why don't I have a potion to disguise myself?" She asked just as a vial of bright blue liquid appeared before her. "Oh…" Regulus sniggered and Hermione took the potion, finding it a very odd sensation that it was hovering in the air and she drank it, wondering if the potion could be seen, like when a ghost drinks and it just…Goes through them.

She felt her features distort, but wasn't worried – although, she really wanted to know what she looked like now, she noticed that she'd grown a few inches.

"Come on then." Hermione turned and nearly had a heart attack when she saw the Death Eater stood behind her and took her wand out n instinct before she realised that it was Morgan and she chastised herself for acting stupidly. She followed him numbly to the fireplace and Floo Powder was offered, although nowhere near where she was. She saw the emerald powder shift and rise, hovering in the air as Regulus held it, his hand invisible.

"Hyperion Lake!" He cried and he was engulfed in the flames, the sound roaring in her ears.

"Where's that?" She asked, reaching for the powder that Morgan and he looked at her, well, where he assumed she was, through the eye holes of his mask.

"Next door neighbours to the Malfoy's." He spat. Hermione gulped and took some Floo Powder, feeling it trickle through her fingers.

"Hyperion Lake!" She ignored the taste of ash in her mouth and the dizzying feeling before she shot out of a small fireplace. She was about to ask for Regulus, but Morgan came barrelling out of the fireplace behind her, his Death Eater robes askew across his body, ash lingering on the black fabric.

"Coast is clear," Regulus' voice came from over by the door and Hermione drifted over to it, feeling very out of touch with the world. "Hermione, let's go." He said, opening the door with a creak and the snuck out, past the rooms and easily out the front door.

"Muggle's, huh?" She asked and Morgan nodded beside her.

"Okay, I said neighbours – but I lied. From here, we fly." He pulled a broomstick from Regulus' pouch and climbed astride it, Hermione following and Regulus behind her, though his fumbled about where to place his hands, since they couldn't see each other. Hermione had to say that she felt a lot safer with someone on either side of her. They kicked of hard and Hermione clenched her eyes shut, burying her face in the back of Morgan's robes, who laughed heartily at my fear before executing a loop-de-loop, making Hermione's inside squirm while Regulus cheered behind her.

After what felt like years to Hermione, she spied a great mansion on the horizon and she almost sighed in relief – she could get off this broom. Soon though, she dreaded the task she had been given as it came more into view, the Manor was well named; it looked more like a castle, with turrets and exquisite grounds with a fountain and iron gates standing before the house, not permitting entrance to anybody not deemed worthy.

They landed and Hermione was almost shaking with fear, if she got caught, she'd be giving up Morgan and Regulus as well…

"Listen, Hermione," Morgan's deep voice rumbled from before her as he hopped off the broom, Hermione landing unsteadily on her feet, placing her hands on his shoulder. "I won't compromise my position here – if you get caught…There's nothing I can do." He sounded regretful, but Hermione didn't feel annoyance or anger at him – her stomach exploded with fast beating winged butterflies, but she felt acceptance at his words.

"I stand by what I said, Hermione." Regulus said from the left of her, "I'll go in if you don't feel up to it."

"No." She had to do this; this was the reason that she was here, why this task had been unwittingly given to her. She had to finish it. Regulus seemed to understand and no more was said on the subject from him as they both followed Morgan to the iron-wrought gates, the broom held firmly in Morgan's hand.

"Hold on tight, you two." Morgan warned his voice low and Hermione immediately clutched his sleeve, hoping that Regulus had done the same. "I'm Morgan Zabini, I'm here to patrol the perimeter." He said in a commanding voice and the gates creaked, but did not open. Instead, Morgan walked through the bars, dragging Hermione and Regulus with him and she felt strange, like she'd just passed through smoke.

"See you in a few, Hermione," Regulus said and the broom that Morgan was holding was taken from him and flew off, looking for the world like a puppy who had lost as its owner as it flew by itself (so it would seem) around the side of the giant house.

"That was the easy part." Morgan said under his breath and took his wands from his Death Eater robes, which practically swamped him and walked briskly up the winding path to the door, Hermione following very nervously behind him, swallowing back her fear.

He pushed open the door roughly and Hermione was slightly surprised that it opened – she'd have thought that they'd be enchantments of all sorts on the door. He walked in and turned to the right, leaving Hermione staring at the open door, fear overlaying her senses, making her sweat and her face lost all blood – it was like leading a lamb to a slaughter house, Hermione thought, but she was a Gryffindor, so, she gathered what little courage remained, despite it being a tiny spark, and she grasped it, gave it all her oxygen and the Flames began, allowing her to enter the house.

The second her foot stepped past the door and landed on the magnificent carpet, the portraits that lined the stone hallway all started wailing, screaming, jabbering one word over and over again:

"MUDBLOOD!"

_A/N: Right, I'm going away tomorrow on holiday, so I won't be updating for a week and a half– I'm off to a log cabin in the middle of the woods with only my sister, Carrie for company, so I have no internet connection and I'm a little frightened, I have to say. I watch to many horror movies :/ So, I'm posting three chapters in one go now, which is what I would post anyways and I'll probably write a chapter while I'm away, so I can update when I get back. _

_I hope you like them! _

_Kelly_

_xxx _


	47. Reunion and Regret

**Disclaimer: **_Not Mine_

**Weight of the World**

**Chapter 47**

Chaos erupted all around her and she ducked as jets of light flew right where she was stood. She dropped to the floor and rolled, covering her head as the vase to the side of her exploded, but thankfully, she wasn't covered in any of the dust or ceramic chips that, if landed on her invisible form, would have given away her position immediately.

"Are you being stupid?" Morgan growled, ripping his mask off and pointing his wand at the Death Eaters. "There isn't anybody there! Check around the back!" Morgan ordered and Hermione was slightly surprised when they listened, hastened to get to where Morgan was saying and he nodded minutely at her, indicating that she was clear before following after them, his black robes billowing around his ankles, looking all the world like an arrogant pureblood who fully believed in Voldemort's teachings.

She scrambled up and practically flew up the stairs, trying to move as quickly as possible – she had to do this fast if it was to go down without a hitch. Because the Horcrux was placed in the manor, then the enchantments on it wouldn't be so hard to break and Hermione was thankful for that. She turned right and headed through the door, closing it quietly behind her, wiping her forehead with the sleeve of her jumper, thankful that it hadn't been disastrously hard. Scary? Yes. Impossible? No.

In fact…It seemed almost too easy and she had a niggling feeling of doubt in her stomach, but she ignored it and her brown eyes scanned the room and landed on the ring. It was levitating over the table, pulsing with power and energy, a golden glow surrounding it. She stepped foreword, quickly glancing left and right and, seeing nobody else in the room she took out her wand and said incantations, watching as the ring slowly moved to the table and the glow seemed to disappear – if she hadn't have found that book in the Library earlier that week, she would have had no idea how to fix this. She was lucky really, that they were more books on the subject in this time, even if they were all in the restricted section and she wasn't supposed to have them – and she'd read a lot about how to dispel a Horcrux from the books she'd 'borrowed' from Professor Dumbledore at the end of sixth year and she'd knew she could perform these spells as she had done so on the Diary.

She watched as the ring hit the table, vibrating harshly before stopping and laying still, looking almost as if it were dead – if a ring could look dead. She reached into her sleeve and pulled out the crooked, yellowed fang, grimacing at the sight and she tapped her wand against it, getting rod of the shield that she'd placed around it before raising it high above her head and, in the apex of the swing, brought it back down hard and fast. It screamed horribly and Hermione watched in horror as it seemed to bleed before the gem cracked, breaking in half. She realised quickly that the scream would have been heard and she picked up the ring, her slender fingers forming around the cold metal. She had a sudden desire to put the finger on, to slip it over the knuckles of her index finger till it sat, resting comfortably on her skin…What a great prize, she thought, to wear the Horcrux of Voldemort on her finger, taunting him day after day that she was better then him – stronger. She laid one hand flat against the wood of the table and lifted the ring, placing it just above her finger and about to slide it on when…

The door behind her burst open and suddenly she was out of the trance, gasping in shock before a hand curled around the back of her neck, chillingly cold and pulling her head back, exposing her throat, which a wand tip caressed gently.

"Did you know that touching the ring makes all glamour's disappear?" And she found herself thrown to the floor violently, smashing her nose against the stone and blood sprouted from it, covering her face. "Oh, dear, now who's made a mess?" The voice taunted and Hermione glanced up – it was Bellatrix. She cackled madly and robes burst from her wand, wrapping tightly around her wrists, practically stopping the blood flow. Her heart hammered in her chest so hard that Hermione was surprised that Bellatrix couldn't see it.

"Who are you?" She said, her wand underneath her chin and she tipped Hermione's head up, her heavy-lidded eyes staring into hers – for that moment, and that moment alone, she was so thankful that Glamour charms didn't exceed into Polyjuice potions as well, otherwise she'd be in trouble. She'd seen her hair when she'd been thrown to the floor, it was straight and shoulder length, a dirty blonde colour and not its usual crazy curly self – Bellatrix didn't know who she was.

"Maybe you didn't hear me the first time," Bellatrix growled, "what's your name?" Hermione thought frantically, her mind in a whirl…What was her name?

"Answer me!" Bellatrix screeched, "_Crucio_!" She'd taken this curse before, but she still couldn't prepare herself for the unbelievable pain that was tearing through her body, seemingly stabbing it with knifes and ripping it apart

"Jean!" She screamed, withering on the floor, her hands bound behind her back, "It's Jean!" The curse was lifted and she breathed heavily, coughing and retching.

"That wasn't so hard, was it?" The door behind them banged open and Death Eaters spilled in, but Bellatrix bellowed angrily, "Get out! All of you! Get AWAY!" She screamed, a red spark shooting from her wand and landing on the stone, leaving a burnt circle mark there. "Except…Except Morgan. She's wearing a Hogwarts uniform…Let's see how dedicated you are to this, hmm?" She said, pulling on his hand into the room before slamming the door shut.

Hermione knew what was coming before Bellatrix had to open her mouth, and judging by the look on Morgan's face, he did as well. She tensed her body, but knew it was fruitless when Bellatrix whispered into his ear, her lips brushing his skin and he raised his wand determinedly.

"_Crucio!" _She screamed, the sound tearing from her vocal chords – if she thought that Bellatrix's had hurt, it was almost nothing compared to Morgan's. He was looking at her blankly, seemingly not bothered by the torture that he was inflicting upon her and her body strained, instinctively trying to get away from the pain.

"Well done, boy," Bellatrix purred, before Morgan cast it again, without Bellatrix's prompt. "Oh! Now we're having a party!" Bellatrix screamed with glee as Hermione's body convulsed before her own torture spell hit Hermione and her vision started to black around the edges, her throat hoarse.

Soon, she became aware of shouting and the curses lifted, allowing her to breathe for a minute before a booted foot hit her in the stomach and she gasped in pain, curling in on herself. Someone was still shouting and she recognized vaguely that it was Morgan. Who kicked her? The boot came again, this time to her face and she almost did black out that time, feeling her nose crack as she groaned in obvious pain.

"Why didn't you help her?" Morgan was yelling as the torture curse was inflicted upon her again. God, why couldn't she just pass out?

"Ooooh…What's this, love?" Bellatrix lifted Morgan's wand and Hermione blearily opened her eyes, seeing Bellatrix with her hand on Morgan's wrist and his eyes were watery, a tear sliding down his face. "It sounds like story time to me!" She said happily, clapping her hands together and sitting cross-legged beside Hermione. "Tell me, Zabini….What exactly happened between you and this Mudblood." She fisted Hermione's hair and pulled her head back roughly and Hermione could feel the tear tracks down her face, sticky and plastered, making her skin stiff.

"She…She knew that Olivia was going to die." He said quietly, eyes downcast, gripping onto his wand tightly, his knuckles white.

"Oh…An interesting development," Bellatrix cooed, the V between her thumb and forefinger coming up to her chin, lifting it as her other fingers squeezed her cheeks painfully. "Carry on."

"And she did nothing to help her." Morgan said angrily.

"Ah, the Mudblood failed to help the Mudblood…Tsk, tsk, tsk…" Bellatrix tutted and Hermione whimpered – that wasn't how it went down, Morgan, it wasn't…She opened her mouth to tell the dark skinned man, but no words came out, instead, she whined pathetically. "Carry on, Morgan. I won't divulge you of your right." Bellatrix whispered, pushing Hermione away and Morgan whispered a spell under her breath, his breathing laboured and Hermione sobbed pitifully as the spell tore through her and Bellatrix cackled maniacally.

"Let's have some fun, huh?" She said and the spell was lifted and Hermione saw a flash of silver before the knife slashed her skin and her blood poured onto the floor.

**

* * *

**

Sirius felt a pang, deep in his chest as he was sat on the couch in the Common Room, James and Lily beside him, her crying into his chest as he gently shushed her, stroking her hair – he'd never seen James be so gentle with anybody – it was disturbing and overwhelming all at once; just when had James grown up on him? The Common Room opened and surprisingly, Dumbledore strode in, hands clasped behind his back as he hummed a tune to himself. "Shouldn't you be in lessons?" He asked, smiling in that know-it-all way of his and Sirius shrugged one shoulder, raising the bottled of Butterbeer to his lips and taking a pull, his other arm falling along the back of the couch, his fingers just brushing Lily's shoulder in comfort.

"Miss Evans, I have some news for you," Dumbledore said and Lily turned her head from James chest slightly to look at the wise professor. "Because of posts that Hermione suggested we place outside your house, Rockwood has been apprehended." Dumbledore told her, his blue eyes looking directly into her green ones and Sirius felt a smile edge onto his face despite his underlining fear for his girlfriend who was God knows where. "Your father is safe and he and your sister have been moved to a safe house." Lily gasped in relief and sobbed, but this time out of release, happy that her family was safe.

"Hermione," Lily said almost silently before raising her head, "where is she?" She asked, her green eyes moving around the room as if this would tell her where Hermione had vanished to.

"Some information on her parents has come up," Dumbledore said quickly, his eyes sliding to Sirius above Lily's shoulder and he nodded once in gratitude. He didn't handle fear well and, at the minute, he was feeling it in spades.

"Oh..." Lily said quietly, before she burrowed back into the James for the comfort that he provided and he shushed her quietly, rocking slightly and Sirius closed his eyes. God, he wanted Hermione, right here in his arms. He hated that she had to go on these "missions" but there was no stopping her and she wouldn't appreciate it if he tried. He tapped the bottle against his thigh once before standing, pushing his hair from his face and he began pacing – he couldn't fight this feeling that something was wrong, something was very, very wrong.

A wave of pain crashed over him and he took a step back in shock and defeat – Hermione was hurt. He turned and ran from the common room, half aware of Dumbledore telling them that Sirius was supposed to meet Hermione ten minutes ago he followed. If he hadn't been so overwhelmed with the thought to get to Hermione, he would have been impressed that the old-man could keep up with him. They were both power-walking through Hogwarts until Sirius realised something – he had absolutely no idea where Hermione was. He stopped and Dumbledore almost walked into his back.

"What's happened?" The man asked, grasping Sirius' shoulders tightly.

"Hermione…" Sirius said and desperation seized his heart.

"Sirius!" Sirius' head whipped around and he blinked as he saw Regulus run up to him, looking out of breath and wind-swept, his house elf, Kreacher, at his feet glaring daggers at Sirius.

"What do you want?" Sirius snapped as his brother reached him – him and Regulus used to be close, even when Sirius went to Gryffindor, but when Regulus happily signed to the Death Eaters without a backwards glance, their bond had severed horrifically and Sirius left everything of his family behind.

"Do you still have those potions that you made years ago? The pain ones, broken bones, bruises, that sort of thing?" He asked and Sirius broke out of Dumbledore's hold, his hands reaching out for his little brother, one hand curling around his head the other grasping his shoulder.

"Why? Are you hurt?" He barked worriedly. They might not get along, but Regulus was still his pain-in-the-ass little brother and nothing changed that. He saw the blood on his cloak, heavy and almost invisible in the black fabric and he gathered it in his hands, grey eyes scanning the blood. "What happened?"

"It isn't mine. Sirius." He grasped Sirius' wrist and his head shot up, fearing what he was about to say and what he'd do if those words were uttered. "It's Hermione's. I'm sorry, Sirius, we have to go and –" Sirius had slammed his brother to the wall, seeing red. What had his creep brother done to His Hermione?

"I didn't do anything!" Regulus said indignantly, frowning. "Sirius, we have to hurry – she's lost a lot of blood." The words seemed to snap Sirius out of his stupor and he glanced at the house elf below them, who was muttering angrily under his breath like he always did. He never really had much time for the House-Elf.

"How do you know?" Sirius said, shaking Regulus and the tiny House-Elf's fists hit Sirius in the stomach, but he paid them no heed. "Back off," Kreacher regretfully moved away, shaking in anger at the treatment of his master.

"Who do you think has been supplying her with information, Sirius? The bloody Easter Bunny? Use you're head, brother!" Regulus snarled and Sirius dropped his hands. This, his little brother was who had been with Hermione in the room of requirement, who told her about Ravenclaw's Diadem. He blinked in shock and misjudgement and Regulus hurriedly straightened his robes, the palms of his hands stained with blood. Hermione's blood.

The thought was too much and he leaned foreword, only Dumbledore's returned grip on his shoulders stopped his foreword momentum and he could hear his Headmaster casting a spell as he felt bile rising up his throat. God, his Hermione was bleeding and hurt and _alone. _He needed to get to her and he heard something whiz past his ear and the clinking of glass.

"Go to her, Sirius," he was gently nudged foreword and Regulus fingers wrapped around his wrist, jerking him upright as Kreacher's hand covered his own, his skin wrinkly against his smooth palm and he had the sudden feeling that he was being squeezed through a tube – he recognised that he was apparating – he had a licence in this after all, but it didn't register in his fog-filled brain until they landed roughly in the middle of a bedroom with three red walls, one white and a black carpet. He looked up and he moved as if he was being pulled in that direction, like a magnet, to Hermione who was laid on the bed the sheets pulled up to her neck, looking pale and her nose horribly crooked with a huge cut above her eyebrow.

"Unfortunately these won't go away – they were made with dark magic. The cut's will scar." Regulus said shakily, placing his wand to her nose and saying "_Episky!"_ and her nose righted itself with a sickening crunch.

"Who did this?" He croaked and Regulus looked up from where he sat on the bed, his expression regretful.

"I don't know. I didn't even know about it until she was pushed out of the window and I caught her on my broom. She just kept saying "Sorry," over and over again." Regulus shuddered.

"Where?" He asked, dreading the answer.

"Malfoy Manor." Regulus responded quietly and Sirius groaned in both annoyance and worry. Sirius rounded the bed to sit on her other side – he needed to touch her, to make sure for himself that she was alive, that her heart was still beating. He moved the sheet back and made a grab for her hand, but his own hand became slippery with blood. "What-?" Dread settled in his stomach until he was tearing at the sheets, trying to get them away from her, ignoring his brothers shouts of alarm and he was almost sick when he saw what was bleeding – The word 'Mudblood' had been carved into her skin, the lines jagged in her forearm and Sirius sobbed, curling foreword, pressing the blood soaked skin to his cheek, grasping her hand.

"That'll scar as well. Your potion should stop the bleeding." Regulus whispered as he titled the vial against her lips and the wounds closed, pulling together as if being stitched by an invisible needle and thread. Sirius tried to compose himself, but when he saw the scarlet line against her throat he almost came undone.

"Whoever did this is going to pay!" He vowed, standing angrily and aiming a kick at a desk of drawers, feeling no satisfaction as it broke, the leg snapping. He growled and let his anger take over as Regulus tended to Hermione, a job that _he _was supposed to do, but knew that right now, he was to angry and felt sick to do anything – seeing her like that, broken, bloodied was enough to send him insane. Eventually, everything in the room was pretty much smashed to pieces and Sirius was staring sadly at a picture of Kaelyn and Noel sadly as they looked so in love. God, they were in so in love. He realised that he wasn't thinking about Kaelyn and Noel and turned to see Regulus standing tiredly, looking older then his sixteen years and he pulled his robes over his head, revealing his white shirt and Slytherin tie.

"I'll be downstairs," Regulus said, grasping Sirius shoulder tightly and Sirius was half-grateful contact "she's in for a very rough few hours." Regulus left the room and it felt odd, Sirius thought, the sun streaming through the window and Hermione on the bed, so pale. The blood replenishing potion sat untouched on the table and Sirius was thankful for his brother letting him do something to help. He slid to his rightful place by her side and lifted her head carefully, pressing the vial gently to her lips and watching as the red liquid trickled in her mouth, and he smiled when she swallowed.

"You have to stop doing this to yourself, sweetheart. I don't think my heart can take it." His thumb rubbed lightly against her bottom lip before he took her hand, pleased to see some colour come back to her face and he settled in for her to wake up and he didn't know whether he'd hug and kiss her, or yell at her fro being an idiot.

**

* * *

**

"You let her go!" Bellatrix screamed in his face and he was disgusted to feel spittle land on his face. "How stupid!" She was livid and she looked frightening. But he wasn't that bothered – he half-hoped that she'd kill him, he wasn't even alive anyway, not really.

"She slipped past me. I was weak, I know that," she back-handed him, the sound echoing around the room and his skin stinging but he made no move to defend himself. He had a death wish, yes, but he wasn't stupid. He almost snorted at the thought and watched thorough narrow eyes as Bellatrix, fuming, took a step back to the Death Eaters circled around him and held out her hand expectantly. Morgan closed his eyes when a whip was produced, pressed into her palm.

"Turn around," she hissed and Morgan had no choice but to do so. He knew the drill – this wasn't the first time that a Muggle torture device had been used upon him and he found it slightly ironic that this was Bellatrix's weapon of choice. Morgan was slightly thankful that Hermione didn't have to get friendly with the black whip that sliced through his skin. He knelt to the ground and unbuttoned his shirt, letting it slide from his shoulders and exposed his already scarred back to her. She giggled like a teenager and he rolled his eyes, knowing that if he'd been seen, he'd be lashed again.

The first one bit into his skin, slightly unexpected and he winced. The next one came and he felt his skin open, blood running in rivulets down his back, pooling at the small of his back. Twenty-five lashes was his punishment, and he deserved everyone of them for what he'd done to Hermione – he'd only meant to do it once, but he'd been so consumed with pain and grief that he'd gone massively overboard and he realised when she whined, whimpering sounding like a puppy being kicked as the words "I'm sorry," passed through her bloodless lips. She'd repeated it like a mantra as Bellatrix cut into her skin with that damned knife, spilling her blood. He'd hated himself for it and deep down, he felt that twenty-five wasn't enough, not nearly enough.

He'd been thankful when Bellatrix had left, kissing Hermione on the cheek in a somewhat useless taunt and told him to finish it, that if she hadn't prevented Olivia's death, he had every right to end her life. The second that the door closed behind them Morgan let the wand fall from his hands and he rushed towards the feebly stirring body of Hermione, lifting her easily into her arms and throwing her from the window, knowing that Regulus would catch her. He was her safety net. He watched as she suddenly stopped in the air and travelled faster then the speed of light to the bushes behind the fountain, out of sight of the Death Eaters and where he could safety summon Kreacher, as was the plan. It was easier to strike Hermione down when she looked nothing like her. Her hair had been short, straight and blonde and her eyes dull and blue. She had whimpered, but not in her voice. It had been easier.

But he didn't feel any less guilty and he gladly welcomed the blinding pain that the whip brought him as it slashed into his skin, tears pooling in his eyes involuntarily and dripping down his nose and cheeks as he looked out the window where Hermione had escaped.

**

* * *

**

Sirius looked at the clock – 4pm. It amazed him how they had managed to pull off this plan not only with little planning, but during the day as well. At about 2 o' clock, Regulus had come in tentatively, holding sandwiches and drinks and Sirius had tried to eat and drink, but the water tasted like iron and the sandwiches like cardboard, so he'd left it. Regulus had told him about their poorly constructed plan and Sirius half-wondered how the two of them had actually gotten into Malfoy Manor, but that bit Regulus had glazed over. It was amazing that Hermione had even gotten out alive, but, the Horcrux was destroyed, the charred ring in Hermione's clenched hand enough of proof to back that up and she was alive.

When he'd seen the way that Regulus had tended to Hermione and, while it spiked on his protective radar, he could see that it clearly was just platonic. "You care about her too," he'd said and when Regulus looked up at him, his eyes slightly watery and looking depressed he'd been transported back to a time when Regulus was five, afraid of the dark and climbing into his bed, his freakishly cold heat-seeking toes pressing against his legs.

Now, him and Hermione were alone, Sirius sat on a black wicker chair beside the bed, his feet propped up on the sheets, watching her breathe, something he never thought he would be able to do but, with Hermione – he just looked at her like he could spend the rest of his life looking at her.

When she stirred, he was up and by her side instantly, not even hesitating. "Hermione?" He whispered, pushing her hair off of her face, the curls stiff and dry. "Sweetheart?" He prompted gently, and was rewarded when her eyelids fluttered open tenderly, her eyelashes brushing her moon-kissed skin. "Hey," he said, ignoring the tears that burned his eyes slightly and the smile that was taking over his face. He was so relieved to see her awake and his own eyes closed with the weight of it.

"Will…" She croaked, her voice chocking up, "will you hold me?" She asked, suppressing a sob.

"Oh, God, yes," he said, needing to hold her, to touch her. He grimaced slightly at the markings on her arm and when her brown gaze landed on it, she actually did sob and Sirius slid under the sheets, holding her lightly. He didn't know what pain she'd gone through, and didn't want to cause her more but…God, this was painful.

"Tighter…Sirius, please." The plea was his collapse, and his arms caged around her, his hands running all over, down her back, across her ribs, in her hair – she was safe, in his arms, here. She sobbed into his chest, her body exhausted and collapsing against his chest as he laid them both down, shushing her, and he realised with no irony that, earlier, when he thought James had gone and grown up on him he was wrong.

They'd both grown up together, became better people because of the girls by their sides.

"Never again," he whispered into her curls with conviction, "you're never leaving my side again, Hermione."

The words were filled with promise of safety and it seemed to lull Hermione into a sense of comfort as he held her, thankful that he could again. The next Horcrux hunt that these two went on, he would be behind them every single step of the way.

_A/N: Right, Im off on holiday in a few hours, so I'll reply to your reviews when I get back and update! I'm sure to write on holiday :D_

_Kelly_

_xxx_


	48. The Day After

**Disclaimer: **_Not Mine_

**Weight of the World**

**Chapter 48**

It was only with courage and determination that allowed Hermione to walk into Lily's private Head Girl room. Normally, she'd be bursting down the walls to get to her grieving friend, but she felt guilty and she was half-afraid that Lily would see right through her and all the blame would be placed on her. The logical side of her brain told her, quite rightfully, that she was being ridiculous, but it seemed to be overruled by her nerves, which had been thrown into overdrive about ten hours ago and she only recently had the strength to move from the bed and out of Sirius' arms.

He demanded that she sleep with him on the couch tonight and she readily agreed – she didn't want to be alone tonight, when the dreams would run rampage on her unconscious mind. She was scared for life. Sirius agreed to wait for her downstairs but if she was more then an hour then he was coming up for her.

She stared at the sobbing girl laid on the bed, her back to the door as she clutched something precious and Hermione had to swallow to regain her Gryffindor Bravery and she coughed quietly, alerting the red-haired girl to her presence.

Lily whipped her head around, staring blankly at Hermione for a second before her face crumpled in on itself and some more tears slid down her face. No matter what torture Hermione had gone through, she knew that it didn't compare to this. She didn't loose a loved one. She sat hesitantly on the bed and gently touched her best friends' shoulder and watched as Lily pretty much fell apart in front of her eyes.

Lily launched herself into Hermione's embrace and she sobbed into her collar, staining the white fabric with her salty tears. Hermione shushed her, offering comfort – it felt strange to be the one giving reassurance as lately it seemed to be her that was severely in need of it.

"Merlin, I'm being s-s-so pathetic," Lily gasped and Hermione tightened her grip, saying without words that in no way was she being pathetic and Lily hiccupped, sniffling.

They stayed that way for awhile, for how long, Hermione wasn't so sure, but her arm was beginning to sting something awful and her eyes watered up slightly in pain and, when Lily moved backwards from Hermione's grasp and she instinctively cradled her marred arm close to her, thankful that Lily didn't seem to notice.

"Thank-you," Lily whispered, brushing her tears away from her face, "I was wo-ondering…I-I know this seems improper, but her f-fu-" She could barely get the word out and Hermione smiled in support. "Funeral is soon and, Well, James will b-be there and Sirius, b-b-but, I could use a girlfriend there, you know?" She stammered through her tears.

"Of course." She smiled and stood shakily, "I'll send James up, yeah?" She asked, heading for the door and Lily nodded frantically.

On the staircase outside, she almost bumped into Kara, who was heading slowly up the stairs, Super Hero clutched tightly to her chest.

"Hermione," she nodded and Hermione nodded back, smiling at her, pleased that the pain in her arm had lessened significantly. "Is she okay? It's so sad." She said sympathetically, one hand stroking Super Hero's green scales.

"She's okay. Is James still down there?"

"Oh yeah, he's almost as torn apart as Lily – apparently he loved Lily's mum," Kara shrugged one shoulder and carried on past Hermione, climbing the stairs. Hermione walked down them and the second that she was visible to the people in the Common Room, James was practically running past her. But he seemed to forget that the stairs would just turn into a slide and the stone steps flattened themselves and Hermione and James' feet slipped out from underneath them and they slid down the make-shift slide. Hermione hissed out in pain at the abuse of her agonized body and an arm wrapped around her ribs, carefully picking her up and placing her unsteadily on her feet.

"Thank-you Remus," she knew instantly that it hadn't been Sirius to pick her up for two reasons – One, Remus' forearm was sprinkled with sandy-blonde hair while Sirius' was completely hair free and two, she didn't get the sense of security she did whenever Sirius touched her.

"No problem," he grinned and Hermione smiled, but her eyes were travelling around the common room, landing on Sirius whose head was tipped back over the back of the red couch and soft, barely there snores were coming from him. "He just conked out as soon as he got comfy," Remus told her, his hands shoved in his pockets and Hermione went to him, sitting beside him, placing a kiss on his temple.

"I guess I'll be leaving then," Hermione's gaze moved to the speaker and she smiled apologetically at Peter, who was stretching his arms over his head. "Good night," he waved and Hermione sighed, watching as both him and Remus travelled up the staircase, chatting to themselves, leaving her and Sirius alone in the common room as the clock in the corner softly chimed twelve midnight.

She found herself looking at Sirius and she thought, not for the first time, how lucky she was to have him. He snorted unattractively in his sleep and she suppressed a snicker. Leave it to him to interrupt her train of thought subconsciously. She rubbed her face tiredly, her body still exhausted after her ordeal and her head dropped tiredly onto Sirius shoulder, her eyes slipping shut as she drifted into sleep easily, her breaths evening out as she succumbed to the fatigue.

_Hermione was in a dark room, no lights, no sounds, no nothing. Just pitch black surrounding her form. She was tied to a chair, ropes binding her ankles and wrist to the wood and a gag shoved in her mouth, tied tightly around her head. Tear tracks marked her face and blood ran from the cut above her eyebrow. Her breathing quickened and her eyes frantically moved around the room, but she saw nothing. _

"_Crucio!" Someone yelled, invisible in the abyss and Hermione screamed, bucking in the chair. "Crucio!" Her screams worsened and she tried desperately to get away, the chair tipping up and she collapsed sideways, crashing to the floor where she whimpered in pain. _

_Someone stood foreword, mask hiding his identity as he crept foreword. _

"_So fresh…" He mumbled, crouching before her and the ropes and chair vanished, leaving her gasping for breath and slumped boneless to the floor. "So sweet…" He moved his head down, his nose touching the delicate exposed skin of her neck and he inhaled her scent as his hands wondered down her body. Giggling could be heard all around them, but nobody could be seen and she struggled meekly. "So young…" The hands snapped the button on her jeans and pulled the zipped down, slowly tugging them over her hips, exposing more and more of her tanned skin as she cried out for Sirius, who couldn't get to her, couldn't save her– _

Sirius awoke with a jolt, covered in a thin sheen of sweat he gasped for breath, his grey eyes scanning frantically for Hermione. She was sat at the edge of the sofa, her head resting delicately on the plush arm, her arm tucked underneath her as well as her legs. Sirius pushed down some of his fear at seeing her beside him and he scrambled off the sofa, ignoring the crick in his neck as he kneeled before her, his eyes scanning her face from the fresh, barely seen scar by her eyebrow to the dip just above her top lip, repeating the mantra "She's safe, she's safe, she's safe…" Over and over in his head, trying to convince himself.

The thought of rape sent his brain into a frenzy and he felt as if he'd been plunged into a bucket of ice water. Nobody would take her like that – nobody would dare with him around. God, he'd been so caught up in the injuries that he could see, overwhelmed by the sick carving in her arm to let his brain breech at the possibilities of what else could have happened to her. He needed to know, but she was peaceful, dreamless for the time being and he didn't know if he could harm that. The answer would still be the same in the morning, she might not get another peaceful sleep like this again.

When Hermione awoke, bleary eyes and still tired, the first thing she saw was the back of Sirius' head as he sat on the floor in front of her, his chin resting on his chest and he took deep, even breaths. Hermione slowly sat up, ignoring the flare of pain at being in the same, crouched position for so long and she carded her hands through his silky black hair, soothing out the tangles gently. She'd like to wake up every morning like this; she thought sleepily, the sun just rising, Sirius beside her, young, fresh, _alive_, their whole life ahead of them. She watched through a yawn as Sirius' head moved back and he looked over his shoulder at her, smiling as her head felt heavy and her head fell foreword before she jerked it back up and Sirius smiled, climbing onto the couch beside her, wrapping his arms tight around her, pulling her into his warmth as sleep over took her again.

* * *

_Regulus watched in horror as Hermione plummeted to the floor, twisting. He stared for a moment before he gathered his bearings and sped the broom towards her catching her easily. _

"_Hermione?" He gasped, clutching her petite form, staring at her blood-drenched clothes. He groaned in frustration and a little fear, rocketing towards the bushes, knowing that if a Death Eater were to pass below them, they'd just see Hermione (or the woman that Hermione looked like) floating in mid-air, suspended by an invisible force. He landed gingerly behind the bushes around the perimeter of the manor and leaped off the invisible broom, carefully lowering the bruised and battered Hermione to the ground, assessing her injuries taking in the gash above her eyebrow, the way her body was barely stirring and the word cut into her right forearm. He closed his eyes and turned away, sickened by what had happened to her. _

"_Kreacher!" He half-yelled, afraid of being detected, and her skin started distorting, the hair growing curly and brown, lengthening till it hit her mid-back and her face contorted, before Hermione appeared before him and that made it so much worse and more painful to look at her. "Kreacher!" He didn't understand why the House-Elf wasn't coming to him and he spent a shed of worry for the old worker as he bent his head down to check Hermione's breathing, feeling puffs of air against his cheek at irregular intervals. _

"_S-," Sirius looked to see that Hermione's mouth was trying desperately to form words, but at the minute, she was not being very articulate and Regulus couldn't understand what she was trying to say. _

"_Hermione, it's Regulus, you're okay, you got out," he said to her, placing his hand on her forehead, finding it cold and clammy. _

"_So…" She mumbled, her head rolling to the side in his grasp. _

"_What are you trying to say, Hermione?" He felt desperation seize his chest just as he heard a crack beside him. "Kreacher, come here," he ordered having no time for niceties and he hoisted Hermione up properly into his arms. _

"_Sorry," she breathed and Regulus felt his heart stop. She had absolutely nothing to be sorry for, absolutely nothing… _

Regulus was brought out of his memory when Severus sat beside him on the leather couch in the Slytherin Common Room, staring at him with those cold, dark eyes.

"Did you destroy it?" Severus asked, his fingers gripping the arm rest so tightly that Regulus feared it would never go back to its original shape.

"Yes," he answered – he'd had to pull the cracked ring from Hermione's clammy hands.

"Do you still have the fang?"

"No," Regulus sighed, running a hand through his hair, wanting to stick to monosyllable answers but knowing that Severus needed more information he was forced to continue; "Hermione didn't have it on here when she jumped out the window," No way was he going to tell Severus what happened to her for two reasons; One: it wasn't his secret to tell and he'd rather not relive it and two: Severus probably already knew all about it, having been alerted to the break in.

Severus sighed and hung his head, "this 'mission' is seriously affecting our Gringott's account."

* * *

When Sirius woke In the morning a few hours later it was to Hermione's hair in his mouth almost suffocating him and to a pair of watery brown eyes.

"Morning," Peter stage whispered and Sirius' hand moved from Hermione's waist to rub at his grey eyes to get rid of the sleep clustered there.

"Hey." He answered, smiling at his friend even though he didn't feel 100% up to it – he wasn't going to take his emotions out on his friends.

"Is she okay?" Peter asked, his eyes glancing down at Hermione who was huddled at Sirius' side and he felt a sudden rush of affection (manly, un-gay affection of course) for his friend.

"Yeah," Sirius said, "we're taking the day off today though," and the rest of the week if he could wrangle it. Hermione wouldn't appreciate having so much time off because the N.E.W.T's were fast approaching and she couldn't afford not to study, but he was adamant that she have some time to re-cooperate whether she agreed or not.

Peter nodded and with a final glance of concern at Hermione he left the Common Room, hoisting his school bag more securely on his shoulder.

Sirius gingerly moved his upper body up and off Hermione, resting his weight on his arm. He looked at her, her back laid against the back of the couch, her legs tangled up with his and she looked so vulnerable it almost broke his heart.

Carefully he manoeuvred them around so that Sirius was sat up normally with Hermione's head on his lap – her hand curled automatically around his knee as if seeking reassurance and her own knees drew up to her chest. Lazily, around a yawn he summoned a red and gold chequered blanket from the back of the armchair and drew it over her form resting a hand on her hip.

He looked up when he heard somebody clamber down the girl's staircase and Rayne practically waltzed into the Common Room, her blonde hair tumbling down her back and her eyes were closed causing her to crash into the red armchair.

"Good morning," Sirius smiled, feeling some tension flow from his body at his friends antics.

"Morning!" She squealed but clamped her hand over her mouth and looked like a child who had been caught with her hands in the cookie jar as she caught sight of Hermione, who stirred at the noise, but stayed asleep.

"Why are you so happy this cold, dreary morning?" He asked, his hand gently stroking Hermione's curls as he glanced out the window to see grey clouds roll in over the horizon.

"We've done it!" She half-yelled, holding her hand above her head like a prized fighter and Sirius saw that she was holding a piece of parchment in her well manicured hands.

Sirius chuckled again as Rayne skipped to the vacant side of the sofa and sat Indian style, facing him. "What have you done, Ray?"

"We've set a date for the wedding! Oh, Sirius, I'm getting married!" She looked so happy that Sirius just had to grin back at her, but in all honesty he had forgotten all about her and Xenophilius. He had been so consumed with himself and Hermione recently that he was ashamed to say everyone else had slipped from his mind.

"When?" He asked, running his thumb absent-mindedly across Hermione's brow soothingly.

"June 1st." Rayne smiled, her dark blue eyes becoming vacant as she began day-dreaming.

"Who would have thought it?" Sirius asked, watching as Rayne looked so happy it was heart-warming, "that Xenophilius Lovegood turned out to be your knight in shining armour."

Rayne blinked and stood up, brushing her skirt down, "well, sometimes Sirius, your knight in shining armour turns out to be a weirdo in tin foil," she winked and skipped to the entrance, pushing open the portrait before throwing over her shoulder; "you and Hermione are invited, of course," before she stepped out and the portrait slammed shut.

It was strange, Sirius never realised the severity if the secret that he and Hermione shared along with the one that he was privileged to share with Remus – nobody but a select few really knew what was happening, where the scars and bruises came from. Hermione would have to come with a story for that, Sirius realised and rubbed his forehead; it was too big to hide. He realised the cruelty of the prank that he had played on Severus last year, that it could have killed him and only know, with Hermione's weak and feeble body beside him did he really understand. And his brother, his younger brother who he was so close to as children, but he let the word 'Slytherin' ruin their relationship.

He groaned and laid his head back against the couch: He had some long overdue apologies to issue.

13th April 1978

Severus was sat in Potions, the first lesson of the day staring at the empty seats of Sirius, Hermione, Lily and James his concern going out to both the girls but more towards Lily then Hermione – yes, Hermione had been tortured and that was going to murder on her sensitive psyche, but he didn't share the emotional bond with Hermione that he did Lily even if right now it was one-sided. Instead of paying attention to Slughorn, which he should be doing, he let his mind wander to the times that he and Lily had had and how much of an idiot he was to give that up.

"_Merry Christmas, Severus," Lily said, smiling at him, her red hair tumbling over her shoulder as she hugged herself from the cold. Severus smiled back and gingerly reached for the present in her hand, half expecting it to be something that would blow up or something that suggested their friendship was really just a hoax. He timidly ripped off the wrapping paper and blinked in surprise at the box in his hands – Paul's accessories was scribbled on the front and he raised her eyebrows at the red-head. _

"_Well, in all honesty I had no idea at all what to get you," she laughed, "and I was with my mother and father the other day and saw this in the shop window – its okay if you don't like it, I just thought you might do," she tucked her hair behind her ear and shuffled in that awkward, shy way that he found so endearing. _

"_I love it."_

"_Sev, you haven't opened it, yet!" She laughed again and this time Severus laughed with her, lifting up the box and staring at the brown leather belt inside. _

_000_

"_I see a fish." _

"_You always see fish," Lily giggled from beside him in the grass, staring up at the clouds that dotted the bright blue skin, the sun just hidden behind the fish looking cloud. "Use your imagination – like, that isn't a fish to me, it is most definitely a ninja fighting turtle."_

_Severus raised his eyebrows at the fifteen year old, who shrugged (as easily as she could laid down) and pointed at another cloud. "And that's its companion, Ichabod, the talented kung Fu Crane!" She said excitedly and sooner rather then later he got swept up in the game to, making up what he could see (as to him, they all still resembled Fish) and laughed at the way her eye lit up with happiness as she created story for the clouds. _

_000_

"_I don't need help from a Mudblood like you!" He spat and instantly regretted it – he could see the pain, hurt, betrayal shining as emotions on her face and reflected in her eyes. He tried to take the words back, to make them have never been said but Potter had hoisted him up, using the spell that _he_ had created, and Lily was jeering at him. All those years of friendship, ruined, ripped to shreds with just one simple word. Mudblood._

The word really held no meaning, he thought as he absently set to making his potion, ignoring Slughorn as he went on about the Slug Club and the end of year party that was going on in the dungeons but only invites were allowed in. Mudblood – it was such a petty word, but those two syllables held the difference between friendship and enemies and love and hate.

The same word was now engraved into Hermione's forearm, scared forever and the word into Lily's heart. She hadn't spoken to him since he had stupidly revealed to her that he was a Death Eater. Why he did it so easily, he wasn't sure, but it felt horrible keeping a secret from her and more then once he had almost let slip about Hermione's secret, but had held his tongue.

He hated it, he thought as his potion turned a deep midnight blue and he started chopping his Boomslang skin, a bored look on his face. He knew where Lily was and he hated that he wasn't the one to comfort her, to bring a smile to her face in the darkest of times. That job belonged to Potter and however much he hated it he could do nothing about it.

* * *

James and Lily were curled together on the armchair by the roaring fire, Sirius and Hermione asleep on the couch. When they had stumbled down the stairs that morning, Lily's eyes red and a wet stain on James' grey T-Shirt, Sirius had been awake, staring into the dancing flames but before long, he had drifted off, his hand curled protectively in Hermione's grip and his hair hanging down his face.

"I'm sorry, Lily," the words seemed hollow, empty, but they had to be said. Lily sighed and placed her head on James chest, listening to his heart beating steadily. It wasn't fair. Why was it her mum that got taken away from her? What had she done that was so bad for this kind of karma? She sighed again, fed up of life and fisted her hand in James T-shirt as he rubbed her back soothingly. She almost snorted at the thought – James, the boy who had tormented her and other students around the school for the Hell of it was long gone, and instead a man sat beside her who tormented her, but not in a vicious, cruel way more in a "You're-my-girlfriend-and-I-have-to-torment-you-but-I-love-you-anyway" and she was so glad that she took a chance on the Prankster of Gryffindor who stole her heart and held it securely in his hands and she was hoping that she'd done right and that he wouldn't break it.

"It's not your fault," she whispered, aware of the two other Gryffindor's who were on the couch, their gentle even breathing filling up the silence along with the gentle crackling of the fire.

"I know," he shrugged and pulled her closer to his chest. "When's the funeral?" He asked and she closed her eyes in silent grief. "The 22nd."

"May?"

"No, April. Dad and Petunia have to be moved to a safe house in case any other Death Eaters come calling and so they're…burying…her as soon as possible." The words were hard for her to say and she grimaced.

"April's turning out to be a horrible month. Except for the amazing first day, of course," he said smugly, a superior look on his face and Lily giggled, the sound unexpected. "Here. Watch." He took out his wand and pointed it at the fire, a spell whispered under his breath and Lily watched, fascinated as the flames curled together, creating two people made entirely of fire. The man bowed to the woman, who curtseyed and they danced together, twirling softly in the fire, the flickering the music that they danced to. "Come on," he said, "hop up." She raised herself to her knees, suspicious about his actions as he grabbed her waist and lifted her off the chair, settling her on her feet as he stood as well.

"What exactly are we doing?" She asked as he grabbed her left hand and pulled her into his body, gently grasping her waist and he danced, leading her around the couch, spinning her in slow circles. She was so lucky to have him, she thought as she settled her head against his chest again, he really was Perfect with a capital 'P' and she couldn't believe that she had spent so long hating him.

But then again, had she ever really?

"What are you doing?" Both Lily and James looked up to see that Hermione was sat up, her hair a bird's nest on top of her head and dark circles under her eyes.

"We're dancing, Kingsley, what does it look like?" James said, letting go of her waist and twisting her around under his arm before spinning her back into his body, his warmth. Hermione chuckled and stood, stretching her arms above her head and sighing in satisfaction when her joints silently popped.

"Have you been asleep on the sofa all night?" Lily asked, stopping their movements as she looked at her best friend with slight worry. Even though she was in emotional distress, she still cared about her friends and they always came first to her.

"Yeah," Hermione said, rubbing her right forearm, "you okay?" She asked and her eyes shined with concern that Lily had to smile at.

"I will be. What was it about your parents?" Lily asked, breaking free of James hold and taking a step towards her friend.

"My parents?" Hermione stared blankly at them and Lily frowned; could she not remember?

"Yeah. Yesterday, Dumbledore told us that you weren't here because of something to do with your parents." James said, standing behind Lily and placing his hands on her shoulders, crowding her personal space with his warmth.

"Oh!" A light bulb seemed to go off above Hermione's head and Lily smiled again – these small smiles were going a long way to cheer her up and lift her black mood. "Yeah…No, nothing important really. How'd you sleep last night?" She asked and Lily had a suspicious feeling that she was hiding something.

"Oh, not very well. I must have woken up about three times." They all turned to look at Sirius who was scratching the back of his head and blinking his eyes sleepily. "Good morning gorgeous," he said, wrapping his arms around Hermione's waist and pulling her to sit on his lap.

"Oh, Thankyou, sweetheart!" James simpered and Lily delivered an elbow to his ribs. "Ow!"

"You had that one coming, mate," Sirius said around Hermione's laugh and together they stood, Hermione's arm wrapped around his waist, his slung over her shoulders. "We're off to the kitchens, I need to talk to Hermione and I'm starved."

"Bring us back something, love!" James yelled after them teasingly and Sirius gave him a one-fingered salute. "How rude!"

* * *

Once they stepped past the boundaries of the Common Room, Sirius gripped her shoulders and spun her to face him, a serious expression on his gorgeous face. "Hermione. I need to know. Did they do…anything to you?"

She looked at him like he was mad and Sirius realised that he hadn't phrased the question right at all. "I meant…Did any of the…men Death Eaters do anything of a different nature to you?" No way could he say that word, the word that just struck his heart strings. She seemed to understand and she gently placed a hand over his own, smiling reassuringly at him.

"No, Sirius, don't worry. I wasn't touched in such a degrading way," The air seemed to rush out of his lungs at the news and he hung his head, closing his eyes tightly in relief. _Thank God_…

"Come on, Sirius. I actually am really hungry." She smiled lightly and he grinned, carding his hand gently thorough her jungle hair, carefully untangling it.

"Let's go then! We'll say hello to the House-Elf's you love so much," he teased.

"But then I have to study,"

Sirius groaned and slung his arm back over her shoulder, tipping his head back as he shoved his free hand in his pyjama pocket. "Why? Hermione, it's a day off – "

"Before N.E.W.T's? Are you joking?"

"Why did I fall for a bookworm?" He asked himself and her hand crept up to tangle in his over his shoulder, giving it a squeeze.

"Because you really, really like me," she smiled and Sirius closed his eyes at the swell of emotion deep in his chest.

"Yeah. Yeah, I do."

* * *

"You mean you let her escape?" Voldemort said softly, spidery fingertips pressed together as his cold, harsh gaze moved from Morgan to Bellatrix. "And she destroyed my ring?"

"My Lord! My Lord I apologize for my stupidity!" Bellatrix practically wailed, throwing herself at the old wizard's feet who glowered at her through piercing red eyes.

"And so you should, Bellatrix." He stood swiftly to his feet and glided to the window, staring out to the people on the streets, scurrying along doing their daily chores, like ants. The ring – they had let the ring be destroyed. Not many knew of the power that the small gem held, but Voldemort couldn't believe that these people had failed to take care of the ring. He felt his anger stem and bubble deep inside him but he refused to act on it. No, he'd wait. Lull them into a false sense of security. But for now…

"I want that girl dead. Do you understand? I want you to search high and low for her and crush her like the miniscule insect that she is to me."

_A/N: I'm back!_

_And here you have…A filler chapter! What joy! I wrote this for two reasons – One: I didn't have to think to hard as I wrote it and two: I wanted to show a few others perceptive and also James and Lily's relationship. I've almost finished chapter 49 as well, so that should be up pretty soon :D_

_Thankyou to all the reviews! _

_Oh, credit to __**Dozy Dora**__ and __**Isabel Black**__ for some idea's :D (Hope you don't mind...)_

_Kelly_

_xxx_


	49. Another Funeral

**Disclaimer: **_Not Mine :(_

**Weight of the World**

**Chapter 49**

April 22nd 1978

The only thing that could be heard in the silent classroom was the scratching of the quill across parchment and Hermione looked at Quinton for a minute silently before the door slammed shut behind her, alerting him to her presence. "Hermione! I haven't been able to speak to you in awhile, not for about ten days. Are you okay?" Quinton gazed at Hermione worriedly; a little furrow between his brows as he looked at her, dressed in a simple black, long sleeved blouse and a black skirt.

"Kind of," she said sadly, looking down at her feet, shuffling them against the stone, "Sirius got his wish, and I've been resting. I'm sure you heard what happened," she murmured, knowing that Professor Dumbledore would have told the Defence Teacher what had happened to her. Quinton nodded sadly and leaned against his desk, crossing his arms over his chest, his feet crossed at the ankles.

"Your arm okay?" Hermione rolled back her sleeve in answer and Quinton flinched at the markings on her exposed forearm, the pinkish skin puckered and raised, the lines long and sharp spelling out the degrading word that would now haunt her for the rest of her life.

"I came here to talk to you about something – this is the only time I could really get away, everyone's preoccupied with the funeral today," Hermione told him, sitting gingerly on the desk in front of his, carefully rolling down her sleeve. "As this goes on," she started, gesturing around her, "my memories, they've been changing…Well, that's not the right way to describe it…I've been getting new ones, alongside my old ones." When Quinton nodded, showing that he understood where she was going, she carried on, "and whenever something happens – I destroy a Horcrux, for example, then my 'memories' come and I see how it's changed the world."

"Really?" Quinton interrupted, his long fingers jumping up to stroke the little goatee beard that had been growing over the last ten days, "that's interesting…So, your brain is letting you in on how you've effected it by letting it keep your old memories as well…That's ingenious!" He said excitedly, his eyes alight with wonderment.

"Quinton, please." Hermione didn't mean to snap, but today was hard on everybody. Quinton blinked in surprise before he waved his hand in a gesture of an apology and the guilt that had settled in Hermione's heart like a stone at the bottom of the sea evaporated from her. "As I was saying, I have some new memories. In my time, Dumbledore is dead, killed in 1997 by some Death Eaters, knocked off the Astronomy tower."

"Not Dumbledore, surely!" Quinton said aghast, staring at Hermione like she had just burst into his classroom dressed as a clown, doing the Hokey Pokey with Voldemort himself.

Hermione shrugged her shoulders, looking down at her feet once again, unable to look Quinton in the eyes, the blue so piercing, it reminded her of Dumbledore. "Yeah. But, after I destroyed the Horcrux, all these new memories assaulted me – Dumbledore's now alive in 1997 and Professor Slughorn no longer teaches here. He was brought back in 1996 for some information on the Horcruxes, and now he isn't there anymore."

Quinton seemed to have relaxed slightly when Hermione told him that Dumbledore is now alive and he looked at her inquisitively. "So, you've indirectly saved a life. It makes the whole thing worth it, huh?" He said, rounding his desk and sitting in the chair behind it, his hands grasping the arms.

Hermione smiled crookedly, her eyes sliding to the side to look out the window at the bright sunshine spilling into the courtyard. "This whole adventure's been worth it for a long time," she answered honestly as she thought back on her time here, at saving Fabian and falling in love with Sirius to meeting Quinton – the whole thing has been worth it.

* * *

When Hermione entered the Head Girl's room, Lily was sat on her bed her back resting against the black headboard and her knees drawn up to her chest as her fingernails ran across the silver chain, the pendent resting on top of her loose-fitting black dress spelling out the world in cursive writing "Daughter".

"Lily, are you ready to go?" She asked sympathetically, holding out her hand to the girl who blinked at being addressed, as if she wasn't aware that anybody else had even been in the room with her and she eased herself off the bed.

"Yeah," her voice sounded hoarse, deep like she'd been crying for hours – which she probably had.

"You'll be okay, Lils." Hermione said reassuringly and Lily nodded absently, pushing her red hair away from her face.

Together, they slowly moved down the stone steps to meet James and Sirius, who were waiting patiently in the common room.

Lily went to James instantly, who hugged her close to his body, whispering reassurances in her ear. Hermione's gaze rested on Sirius, who was stood beside James, dressed in a black, button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and she felt a strange pang in her heart that she couldn't pin-point at first until she realised what it was – envy. She could never do that again lest she wanted her horrible scar shown to the world.

"We'd better go," James said quietly from beside Lily, his arm wrapped tightly around her shoulder and Lily seemed to gather her strength from James, breathing in deeply and standing straight.

"Okay," she breathed, a tear slipping down her cheek but she brushed it away quickly, looking determined. She wrapped her arm under James' and around his waist and Hermione and Sirius intertwined hands and the four of them left the Common Room together, a single unit moving in silence to Professor Dumbledore's office, where they would Floo to Lily's aunt's home and travel with her to the funeral.

On the way, Lily was met with many "I'm sorry", "Sorry for your loss" and "I hope you're okay's," and Lily answered everyone with a nod, showing a strong women who appreciated everything, but Hermione, Sirius and James knew that it was a façade. Hermione wasn't surprised to see Severus near Dumbledore's office and Lily faltered in her steps when she saw him, her green eyes fixed on the boy as James gently pulled her away.

The trip seemed to last hours and Hermione was half-pleased to see the stone gargoyle that guarded the office, like a checkpoint Hermione thought to herself – Lily had made it this far, she could carry on.

She wasn't a Gryffindor for nothing.

Lily whispered the password and even the stone statue looked sad for the red-headed girl as it jumped to the side, admitting them entrance but Lily paid it no heed, carrying on up the winding staircase, James right behind her followed by Hermione and Sirius like loyal dogs.

Dumbledore was waiting for them by the fireplace, the bag of Floo Powder in his waiting hands. Without a word Lily stepped into the fireplace, using her sleeve to wipe her face as James smiled sheepishly at old man, grasping some powder in his hands and stepping beside Lily, who hugged him and he returned it without hesitation and dropped the Floo Powder in the fireplace, shouting their destination as the emerald flames surrounded them and they disappeared leaving behind only a small pile of ash.

"Now you," Dumbledore said. Sirius grabbed some powder in his large hands and together they moved to the Fireplace, Sirius having to duck his head to fit and he dropped the powder as the bright green flames cut off her view of the wise, old professor as she whizzed across England, watching as Fireplaces flew by, her hand in Sirius keeping her slightly grounded telling her that she wasn't alone.

She nearly fell when she landed in the fireplace of a living room that was a bright, bubbly pink not at all in-keeping with the mood that had descended on the four mourning students and Hermione felt that she'd been transported back to her fifth year and was in Dolores Umbridge's office. She shook off the unwelcome thought and allowed Sirius to pull her out of the fireplace, being careful not to bang her head and she was thankful to see that no kitten plates were on the walls.

"Oh, look at you!" Hermione turned her attention to a plump woman sat beside Lily on the white sofa with pink flowers printed on the upholstery, smiling widely at them through the black interweaved veil that was attached to her wide-brimmed black hat, sat jauntily on top of her luscious blonde hair, "you're covered in ash, poor things!" Her blue eyes landed on Sirius and if it were possible, her smile got even wider, becoming more flirtatious. "Well, aren't you a keeper?" She giggled and Sirius slid his free hand out of his pocket and offered it to her.

"Miss Avery," he greeted as her fingers wrapped around his hand and Hermione felt a heavy stab of jealousy.

"Please, call me Iris," she simpered and Hermione reached boiling point.

"Is now really the time?" Hermione cut in, her jealousy turning to anger and Sirius squeezed her hand in both warning and reassurance.

"I suppose not." Lily's aunt sighed and let go of Sirius' hand. "Poor Ivy, it's such a shame. Come on then."

How the woman wasn't upset Hermione didn't know, her older sister was dead, no longer with the world and Iris Avery was acting as like nothing drastic had happened and she was flirting with a man thirty years her junior that was very obviously taken!

She resisted the urge to growl and followed them through the living room, through the green passage way and through the front door as the headed to the black camper van that was parked on the road, gleaming in the overhead sunlight.

"Don't mind her," James said to her out of the corner of his mouth, his hazel eyes tracking Lily was she moved away form him and got into the passenger seat at the front of the car. "She's like it all the time. You should have heard what she said to me!" Hermione didn't feel any more at ease and she slid into the backseat of the car between James and Sirius and Iris powered up the car, her blue eyes settling on Sirius in the rear-view mirror before the car pulled away from the curb and she had no choice but to look at the road.

Hermione looked out the windshield in front, watching as the car ate up the curved road easily and the world span by and she started to feel light-headed before long. She never much cared for sitting in the middle seat of the car, but Sirius insisted on it. She wasn't really supposed to be out of Hogwarts grounds, and only was for Lily after a long battle of wills with Dumbledore who only conceded when Sirius stepped in and promised that no harm would come to her, not with him by her side. Her heart had warmed at the words and she resisted the urge to kiss him there and then, waiting until they were out of his office in a corridor by themselves to kiss him, which ended with her pressed against the stone wall and the very few buttons of her blouse undone.

Their physical relationship had progressed immensely since her torture, Sirius touching her at every possible moment – whether convince himself that she was still there or reassure her that he wasn't leaving her side she wasn't sure, but she appreciated it all the same. His touch was her anchor and she returned every one of his touches and, like a magnet pulling them closer together, they ended up intertwined in one way or another.

She felt the car jolt to a stop and Sirius hand squeezed her thigh, letting her know that they were here. She looked to see a grand church standing there, looking slightly menacing due to its great height, but Hermione's attention was on the small collection of people gathered in the cemetery, all wearing black and when Sirius opened the door, she could hear sobs. They climbed out the car steadily and moved to the congregation and moved to the very front, Lily hesitant in her steps as she got closer to the closed mahogany coffin that hovered over the six foot hole in the ground and her breath caught in her throat.

They sat down on the front row and Lily ran into her father's arms, who was skinny as a beanpole and had wiry, red hair, dark circles under his eyes and his skin was a pasty white. Beside them stood Petunia. Hermione had only ever seen Petunia properly once, when the Dursley's came to pick up Harry from platform 9 ¾ and that was just a glimpse.

The woman who stood tall and regal with blonde hair identical to her aunts, a horse-like face and a long, skinny neck that Harry had told her she used to spy over the neighbours fences. Petunia's face was hard and cold and she didn't spare a glance at her younger sister, her gaze fixed eerily on the coffin, as if she could see straight threw it. Lily reached out to touch Petunia's shoulder reassuringly, but she shrugged the hand away, storming to the chairs beside them, collapsing into the one at the end and now she was so close, Hermione could see the tracks of tears down her face. Lily looked crestfallen at being rejected and her and her father moved slowly to the white chairs, Lily sitting beside James clutching his hand so tight that her knuckles had gone white, but beside a slight wince from James, he made no complaint. Lily's father sat between the two sisters and Hermione wondered why they seemed to be fighting – Hermione always thought she was hostile with Harry because it was a reminder of her dead sister.

Before she could begin to wonder about this, Sirius' arm rested along the back of the chair and he slouched back, looking calm and collected, but Hermione could sense that he was upset.

The priest stood on the podium before them and cleared his throat loudly to gather people's attention and everyone looked up. Hermione felt exposed in the open and very vulnerable, especially being at the front, exposed to the eyes of any passer bys and, granted while they were not likely to be Death Eaters it was still unnerving.

"Let us commend Ivy Evans to the Mercy of God," the priest's voice boomed around them, making Hermione jump slightly as his deep voice interrupted her thoughts and her hand jumped to Sirius' thigh instinctively, drawing comfort. "Petunia Evans has requested that she say the Lord's Prayer in her mothers memory. Petunia." He nodded at the elder Evans sister and she shakily stood as he moved away from the podium.

She glanced over every face quickly, her eyes stopping on Hermione and Sirius for a moment and Hermione realised that Petunia didn't know who they were. She looked down at her hands, away from Petunia's gaze and glanced at Lily, who was sitting up straight not looking at her sister. "Our Father, who aren't in Heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done…" Hermione listened to Petunia silently, pretending that she couldn't hear the quiver in her voice as the words spilled from her lips.

The funeral carried on, Lily's façade was starting to façade as it went on and when it was time to lower the coffin into the ground, Lily let out an oppressive sob, before catching herself and concealing all others, despite James' reassurances that it was alright to cry.

The priest looked solemn as the casket was lowered and he opened his mouth to finish his recital: "We therefore commit Ivy Evans to the ground; Earth to Earth, Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust; in the sure and certain hope of the Resurrection of Eternal Life." Once the coffin hit the floor with a small thump, murmurs of sadness rippled across the family and friends gathered there and Iris Avery blew her nose loudly. It was nice to know that she did care after all.

The Evans family dropped red roses on top of the coffin and the Avery dropped pink ones in. Friends dropped white ones in, the roses all mingling together as they were thrown elegantly one by one, united.

Lily wiped her face discreetly before turning to the three friends and forced a smile at them despite the tears rolling down her face. "I'm going home with Daddy and Tuney for the night, and I'll be at Hogwarts in the morning," she told Hermione and Sirius while James wrapped his arms around her waist and pressed a gentle kiss to her lips.

"Be safe," James said, reluctantly letting her go, "these are dangerous times."

"I know." She nodded, "you can apparate to Hogsmeade from here, but it'll be a trek to Hogwarts." She said, "unless you want to ride with aunt Iris-"

"No, we'll apparate." Hermione interrupted sternly and Sirius huffed a laugh. She knew that she wasn't supposed to, but at the minute she thinks she'd prefer fighting Death Eaters to watching Iris Avery simpering in Sirius' hold.

Lily nodded and reluctantly moved from James and practically ran to her father, her bright red hair lifted from her shoulders due to the wind and Mr. Evans (Greg, he'd said to call him, but Hermione felt that was to impolite) wrapped his arms around her immediately.

The three of them stayed to watch as the three of them climbed into the car, Petunia delegated to the back seat as Lily and Mr. Evans slid into the front and they pulled away, a little shakily and Hermione wasn't so sure if he should be driving after what he had just gone through. Hermione allowed Sirius to tug her in a different direction and James followed behind, looking downcast.

"She'll be okay, James." Sirius said reassuringly, placing his free hand on James shoulder and he nodded, although it seemed that he didn't quite believe it himself.

Hermione looked over her shoulder at the car, that was now just visible enough for Hermione to tell that it was the Evans' car in the distance just as Sirius had began to apparate, but something didn't feel right. She watched in fascinated horror as their car sped up and crashed into a pale blue mini heading in the other direction, the crunching of metal loud and echoing as it compacted in on itself, glass raining down and tinkling on the cold, hard ground. Hermione was vaguely aware of James yelling but her body was moving on auto pilot, her legs running before her brain told them to, heading for the collision, hoping that Lily was going to be alright. She felt slightly guilty for not sparing a thought of concern for Mr. Evans and Petunia, but when she got to the crash, James already there being faster then her and Sirius just behind, not letting her out of his sight she gasped.

Lily's head was hanging through the window, her red hair a stark contrast to the grey metal of the car, blood ran down her face from excessive cuts that the glass had made, there was a vibrant bruise on her collar bone from the seatbelt crashing into her chest, stopping her from flying through the windshield. But that wasn't what was made her gasp – it was the green eyes staring back at her. Vacant. Empty. Dead.

She crashed to her knees unexpectedly as other memories assaulted her – there was no Harry in these ones. She felt a hard tug at her heart and her breath left her in a whoosh as she openly sobbed, hunching over herself, aware of James screaming again, his voice hoarse as she punched the ground.

Why was this happening? Lily couldn't be dead, she couldn't be taken away from them…Harry had to live.

She watched through bleary eyes as Sirius and James wrenched open the door with magic, ignoring the gasps of the surrounding muggle's and managed to get her out of the car, laying her gently on the ground, James placed his hand by her throat, checking for the pulse that was no longer there as Sirius moved to get Petunia, who was gasping for breath, staring at her dead sister with horror.

Sirius also went to help Mr. Evans and Hermione looked at his sombre expression, the tears rolling down his own face but he did not act on them, instead moving mechanically to help the others, ignoring his best friends cries for as long as he could before he had to collapse beside him, moving James away gently and Hermione practically crawled to Lily.

The memories came quick and fast and were almost painful as she had memories with no Harry, no laughs, no good times…At all. She'd overheard Ron complain about her to Seamus and Dean and she'd stormed past him, defiantly, so that he wouldn't see the tears prickling her eyes and she'd locked herself in the girls bathroom, letting the tears fall down her face in rivulets when the Troll's club came flying through the plaster of the stalls, smashing her on the head and came down again, crushing her rib bones…

She stopped breathing and her vision blackened around the edges and, when she looked down at herself, she was slightly transparent.

"Hermione?" Sirius asked concerned, squatting beside her as James threw himself over Lily, pointing his wand harshly at her chest as sirens could be heard and flashing lights assaulted her vision, loud and obnoxious, ordering people to move out of the way. She literally couldn't intake her breath and she shakily moved her hand to his shirt, but couldn't fight the devastated feeling as her hand passed through his skin and she panicked and Sirius' eyes became just as vacant as Lily's as he forgot who she was because, if she died in first year then she couldn't come here…

Lily gasped, her back arching off the floor and James was murmuring praises to God, kissing her all over her face as she breathed shallowly and everything snapped back into place, she could breathe and her sight came back fully, along with the look of love that was always present in Sirius' eyes when he looked at her and she breathed a sigh of relief, coughing against the abuse her throat had taken when it closed up – the face of the Troll would haunt her for a long time, but this time when she delved into her memories, Harry and Ron were stood beside her, exhausted.

Two ambulance's screeched to a stop beside them and the double doors blasted open, paramedic's spilling from them and surrounding the wreck as one paramedic with brown, messy hair and a soothing smile went to Lily and Petunia, assessing them both as Lily trembled in James hold.

"I need to go with her! I have to go with her!" James cried and the paramedic looked at him before nodding tightly.

Petunia was shaking and staring at her sister, leaning her back against the destroyed car. When a woman paramedic with blonde hair tied back into a ponytail moved to the woman, but she refused the help, gesturing to Lily instead. It seemed that Petunia did have a heart after all.

Once they were all bundled and hauled into the back of the ambulance and James leaped in beside the unconscious Lily that they screeched off, their sirens blaring again. Sirius's arm were wrapped so tightly around her that she knew he had scared her with what had just happened to her.

"Explain." He said stonily, pushing her hair away from her face, "Now."

* * *

"_I'm sorry, girls," her father said to them and Lily's teeth clenched tighter as she was forced to relieve the memory of her mother being lowered in the ground…No Eighteen year old should go through that. "It'll be okay. You'll see." He smiled sadly at them at pulled away from the road. _

"_Father, Vernon is coming around tomorrow." Petunia said from the back seat, not glancing at her dad, whose gaze narrowed. _

"_Why isn't he here today?" He asked and Petunia's head rolled across the head rest behind her and she directed her gaze to her father's green eyes, identical to her sister. _

"_Because of his job, father." Their father just scoffed as the car rumbled up the road. He directed his gaze to the red-head girl curled up on the front seat, trying her hardest not to cry. _

"_Oh, baby," he said sympathetically and his own lip quivered, "it'll be okay, I promise. We'll be with your mother soon." _

_Lily looked up sharply at his words as he pressed down on the accelerator, his green eyes showing determination and fear as they sped towards a blue mini. _

"_Dad! Dad, what are you doing?" Lily screamed, reaching for the steering wheel, trying to slam it to the left, away from the blue mini, but she was easily overpowered. _

"_What do you think I'm doing, Lily?" He asked calmly, his eyes on the speed watching as it sailed into the forties, fifties… _

_Both her and Petunia screamed in unison as their father glanced upwards, "We'll be together again soon, Ivy. So very soon…" Lily couldn't believe her father was having a psychotic break but before she could yell at him some more, she was jerked foreword, the seatbelt stopping her foreword momentum, cutting into her chest painfully. She gasped in relief before she was jerked to the side as the car skidded across the pavement, the people in the blue mini probably killed instantly as it was ploughed into and Lily's head smashed through the window and that was the last thing she could remember…_

* * *

Hermione watched sadly as Sirius crouched next to James in the Hospital Waiting room, offering him cold drinks, small portions of food and kind words, all of which were shot down and Sirius sadly gave up, hefting himself onto the chair beside him and squeezing his shoulder reassuringly. It was no secret that his friends were his second family, and he valued them above any thing else…Maybe even her. She didn't hold it against him and she never would. If you dated Sirius Black, his friends came in the whole package. It was why she'd worked hard to be friendly towards Peter, so that Sirius wasn't forced to choose between them.

She wasn't as worried as James and neither was Sirius, as they had the knowledge that Lily would be okay – Harry was in her memories still and she was so grateful. She never really realised how much love she'd held for Harry until the thought of him never existing occurred and she felt like she couldn't breathe…And then she actually couldn't breathe.

She wondered briefly if this happened before, if she'd been in a car accident before Hermione travelled back, but the more she thought about it, the more probable it seemed that she had. Which of her actions would have caused a car crash in Muggle Loughborough, the home place of the Evan's family? None.

After explaining to Sirius what had happened they apparated to the alley behind the hospital and met up with James in the waiting room on the eight floor of the major hospital, but all they could do for him was offer reassurances that were perfectly true, but to him would sound hollow, false. Like they were telling him something sunshine-y to mask the truth, keep a smile on his face.

She'd never seen James like this, she mused, Harry she had seen upset and depressed a fair few times, but Hermione supposed it came with the territory of being unsafe wherever he went and being the 'chosen one.' But James…James was eighteen years old, and was a prankster at heart and seeing him depressed was like seeing George without an ear – it didn't look right. She frowned at her own thought pattern and looked impatiently towards the large double doors that Lily had been pushed through hurriedly, taking her away from James who looked clueless, like without her by his side, he didn't quite know how to go on properly.

Eventually, the doctor walked through the doors, looking tired and unclean, but smiling none-the-less. "Lily Evans family?" She called out and James shot up so fast Hermione was surprised that he didn't get head rush.

"That's us!" He said almost frantically, trying to peer around the doctor, "is she okay?"

The doctor smiled and Hermione and Sirius exchanged looks of relief, even though Hermione had the proof of a live and breathing Harry in her memories, she still liked to here that medically Lily would be alright.

"Can we see her?" Sirius asked and he grinned when the doctor nodded.

"She's just been settled into her own private room. 304 down the hall."

"What about Petunia and their father?" Hermione asked.

The doctor's blue eyes focused on her and she felt slightly unnerved. "I don't have any word on them yet, but I hear the sister is putting up one Hell of a fight. Could you please alert family and friends to Miss Evans wellbeing?" She asked before turning on her heel to the wash room, peeling off her surgical gloves as she went, a slight spring in her step at another soul saved.

The doctor, whose name was Ruby Heath, closed the door of the wash room behind her, listening for the quiet click that told her that it was secured and she tossed the surgical gloves in the bin before staring at herself in the slightly cracked mirror above the white sink. What she hadn't told the three teenagers gathered in the Hospital Waiting Room is that Lily Evan's neck had been broken not a few hours ago, but was now healed. On the X-Rays, you can clearly see that old mark, but it was like a miracle had happened – or magic.

She shook her head and turned on the faucet, cupping her hands under the running stream of water and bringing it to her face, relishing in the cold feel, keeping her grounded, reminding her that she had a job to do. She needed to know what had happened to the other Evan's.

* * *

James was asleep with his head on the side of Lily's bed and Hermione and Sirius were sat on the two uncomfortable chairs on the other side, watching the two sleeping lovers silently and Hermione blinked hard at the sight – Lily had definitely been dead, the memories had proved that, so how could she be here, alive? Magic would be the obvious answer, except that magic couldn't bring a person back to life.

"I think it was love," Hermione whispered hoarsely, physically and mentally exhausted after the ordeal and she wondered how Lily was going to cope with also the loss of her father – Dr. Health had come in earlier and told them of how her father had been killed instantly, the seatbelt breaking his rib and it pierced his heart. She left it to them to tell Lily and, with a confused look at Lily, the doctor left to conclude her rounds. Sirius looked at her and raised his eyebrows in questioning. "Love. I think it was James' love for Lily that saved her. She was dead, Sirius. I know. And suddenly, she wasn't. No magic can bring back the dead, but Love is a different force entirely, Sirius. It can protect someone from the Killing curse."

"Nothing can do that." Sirius corrected, rubbing his forehead with his fingers.

"Love can." She pushed, "I've seen it with my own two eyes, Sirius. Love is a force to be reckoned with and I'm telling you, it saved Lily tonight." Hermione finished, looking at the sleeping red-head, her best friend and made a vow to herself to help Lily through this, to give her help and support in these dark times. She looked at James and glanced at Sirius in her peripherals and made another vow to herself – she would get the Marauder's pranking again before they left Hogwarts next month, get the school laughing again. Like she said before, these were dark times, but love was going to get them all through it.

_A/N: One of my trusted readers (**Isabel Black**) noticed a flaw in this story, so I just quickly re-wrote it to make sense because, when I became aware of it, it bugged me as well. _


	50. Scars and All

**Disclaimer: **_Not mine_

**Weight of the World**

**Chapter 50**

The wind whipped about outside, making the tree branches shiver and tap against the window in a creepy manner as Lily and Petunia stood side-by-side beside a metal table with a sheet across it, whatever was under it big and bulky, looking completely different with their totally opposite colouring. Dr. Heath looked at the two girls sadly before she grasped the corner of the sheet and pulled it up and off, exposing the still body of their father.

His skin was a pale grey colour, his shock of red hair looking like the fires of Hell and his eyes were closed, his lips blue and his veins were visible. Their father wasn't sleeping. Their father wasn't ill.

Their father was dead.

Lily couldn't cry. She was ashamed to feel that her eyes were dry and that no tears were spilling from them. She looked at Petunia whose face was impassive and hard and staring at their dead father like he was something else entirely and Lily supposed she was right.

She wouldn't share this with anyone, maybe James in the future as they curl up together in bed, warm and safe and _alive. _But not now. Her father had purposely driven the car into the mini, purposely tried to kill all three of them because he couldn't bear to be living without his wife beside him.

Lily sighed harshly as the sheet covered the man again, hiding him from view. Lily had to take the weight and bear it as there was nothing else she could do. She would go to his funeral because, even though he had tried to kill them all, he did it out of love for his wife and now, they were together. Lily couldn't hate him for that, but by the stubborn set of Petunia's jaw, she was pretty sure that her older sister could.

She was thankful that his bright green eyes had been closed, she realised as Petunia led her away, being more kind to her then she had in seven years. She was thankful that she didn't have to look into eyes identical to hers, to see the heart break and the fear and the loss – she made a silent promise to herself that she'd never see that look in anybody's eyes ever again.

The weeks passed by in a blur to Lily – preparations for her father's funeral were made, N.E.W.T's were studied for, Hermione had to be calmed three times in the week before from panic attacks and she had to avoid Severus, who was determined to get her to talk to him. It seemed that everybody knew about her accident and everyone, even people that she didn't know where asking her if she was alright, every minute of every day and it was starting to annoy her slightly.

Okay, maybe more then slightly.

She always had a short fuse, and lately, everything around her seemed to be lighting it up. Every little prank that the Marauder's did, even something simple like turning the colour of her red and gold tie blue and bronze annoyed her. Every little first year that looked lost and confused annoyed her. Every sneer of the Slytherin's about her filthy blood was annoying her.

She knew why the Death Eaters had chosen to attack her mother in the street, it wasn't just a random muggle attack it was a warning. The Potters were a pure-blood family and while James' parents had no qualms about him dating her, Death Eaters did. Even though The Potters were not a Death Eater family and never would be, they were still hoping for James to change his mind and to join their side, which he would never do.

It was her lineage that had killed her mother, taken her away and she hated herself for it – her "dirty blood" was going to taint the Potters and that was the reason.

The Slytherin's weren't helping and ever since her parent's death, they seemed to take it upon themselves to kick her while she was down, making her even more miserable. When they said these things to her, spat the word Mudblood at her like she was the dirt at the bottom of her shoe she pretended that she wasn't bothered and just insulted them back – but at night, she'd cry into her pillow at the degrading manner. The only one that she didn't mind being around at the minute was Hermione, who was a fellow Muggle-born and understood her feelings.

"We'll always be prejudiced again." Hermione had said to her one night, eyes on a tombstone of a book and her quill scratching against the parchment, "we unnerve them, I think. Purebloods, I mean. We're not supposed to be able to do this, have these abilities, and yet we do. So they made us inferior to them, to help them cope with the unknown."

It was logical, and logical was what Hermione was. She didn't let the words bring her down and it had never bothered Lily…Well, the first time she heard it and when Severus called her it had really torn her up, when she realised that she was prejudiced against and that her best friend would call her it, but after that she vowed that it would never bother her again…But then, it was the reason that her mother was murdered in cold blood and every time it was uttered it sent a bucket of icy water down her spine and her eyes began to burn.

* * *

Hermione was concerned for Lily. She was watching her best friend deteriorate before her eyes over a word and she didn't know how to help. She could relate, of course she could the word was carved in her arm after all, but she didn't know how to help her. She couldn't do anything but offer hollow reassurances to her and she hated that. She could tell that James wasn't fairing much better and that his own temper was getting steadily worse, even going as far as to lash out to Peter, calling him stupid, but Hermione quickly stepped in, telling Peter that James was just stressed and he didn't mean it, but she could see the glimmer in his eyes, the one that said "He's-right-I-am-stupid."

Everyone tried to chip in and cheer her up – Megara bitched with her about lousy Slytherin's, Thoma entertained her with a childhood story that she'd made up about a armadillo whose red short were to big for it, Kara acted normally around her as did Remus (which Hermione thought was pure genius), Peter always got extra chocolate things for her when she went to the kitchen and Rayne asked her to help plan her upcoming wedding for Xenophilius in June, which was exactly a month away. All of this _was_ helping, but it didn't distract Lily totally.

"I'm worried about Lily." Hermione said to Sirius one day as they sat together against the Beech tree beside the lake, his legs framing her as she rested against his chest.

"We all are, love." He said sincerely, dropping a few kisses to her neck. Hermione didn't know if it was because she was here in this time that had caused this change in Lily, or if she went through it anyway. She voiced this particular worry to Sirius who chuckled against her skin. "I doubt it. Lily's been called that word for awhile now, as have you. You and Lily are pretty much the same; you're stubborn, strong-willed and you don't let a word get you down. I reckon her parent's death has pushed her a bit too far. She'll be fine – have you got any new memories?" He asked as his left leg straightened, laid flat against the grass pressing against hers and she smiled at the contact. Sirius had this way of making her feel safe and comforted and that she didn't need to worry.

"No." She sighed, leaning her neck to the side, granting him more access. He grinned and accepted her offer, trailing his kisses up to the skin just behind her ear and scraped his teeth there, sending a delightful shiver down her spine. He was the only one who could do this to her, make her feel like this. She tilted her head further to the side and craned her neck upwards, her mouth seeking his and the dizzyingly amazing kisses he delivered and she wasn't disappointed.

He kissed her like he was a man dying of thirst and she was his salvation. She returned his passion, shifting slightly in his hold, her back against Sirius' chest and he slid one hand to the back of her neck for support, and she smiled into the kiss that he was still concerned for her. He nipped at her lower lip lightly and she opened her mouth, welcoming his tongue. She reached her own hand up, resting it against his jaw as she gasped into the kiss, her eyes sliding shut and she felt Sirius' hand press against hers on his jaw, his fingers falling into the open spaced between hers.

"Oh, my eyes are burning." Hermione regretfully broke the kiss and looked up, squinting at the onslaught of sunlight and sighed when she saw Regulus stood there, looking slightly disgusted, his arms crossed over his chest, hip cocked just so. He and Sirius both held the arrogance that came with being from a Pureblood family, no matter how much Sirius rejected it, it was still in his essence and she realised that he acted immaturely because he was trying to discard it, while Regulus walked around, proud of his blood heritage.

Still, he wasn't prejudiced, and Hermione was thankful to have him for this mission.

"What do you want?" Sirius growled and Regulus merely lifted an eyebrow at his older brother, not at all fazed by the tone of voice that many had run from before.

"To talk," he said, picking at his fingernails with an air of boredom.

"About?..."

"The increasing wrath of Voldemort,"

"Oh, always a cheery subject," Sirius sighed sarcastically, dropping his hand from over hers and she did the same, moving back into a more comfortable position. "Have a seat, little brother."

"No, thank you, I prefer to stand." He insisted, looking at the ground with distaste on his face.

"Suit yourself," Sirius shrugged behind her. They had made their amends as brothers a few weeks ago, Sirius being the one to bite the bullet and he thanked his brother for saving Hermione's life and Regulus apologized (though reluctantly) for not listening to Sirius before his initiation becoming a Death Eater. Their bond had been torn by their views of betrayal (For Regulus, it was Sirius going into Gryffindor and for Sirius, it was Regulus joining the 'big leagues') but it was slowly being stitched together though not in the public eye.

"Specifically, I wanted to talk about next week. I'm going with Voldemort to move the Horcrux, the locket, and then afterwards we'll come up with a plan of destruction." He said simply, "but, we'll do that after you've finished your N.E.W.T's."

Hermione suddenly felt her breathing pick up and she felt constricted in Sirius' arms. She really should be studying for the major exams right now, not sat out in the sunshine with Sirius…Even though it was tempting, she had all the time after N.E.W.T's to snuggle up with the man behind her, but only a few short hours every day to study. She stood, reluctantly leaving Sirius' arms who stood as well and glowered at his brothers.

"We don't mention that word around Hermione," Sirius growled low in his throat as Hermione dusted the seat of her grey skirt off and pulled her shirt back into place – it got twisted as she shifted around. "I won't be able to pull her away from her books for hours now."

"Right, and I was supposed know that…How?" Hermione smiled to herself and left the bickering brothers behind.

"Wait! I didn't finish, Hermione!" She heard Regulus yell after her and Hermione waved a arm over her shoulder back at him, carrying on walking towards the monumental castle that had held many great witches and wizards in its corridors.

"Yeah, yeah, devise a plan later. Good luck!" She called.

When she got to the library, she was in no way surprised to see Severus Snape sat at, what she came to know as 'their table', flipping through a huge book, parchment spread all around him. She walked towards the bookshelves in the back, pulling out the one that she needed about Charms and moved back to their table, sitting on her usual squeaky chair.

Severus barely looked up once Hermione dropped in the seat, but she saw his coal, black eyes going to her right forearm quickly before swinging back to the yellowed pages of the old book in front of him and Hermione became instantly suspicious…Did he know what scar lay there? If so, how?

She was tempted to ask, but Lily breezed through the double oak doors, distracting her. Severus looked up, his head moving up as if being pulled by an invisible string as she entered, as if he were drawn to her presence. Her green eyes scanned the room before settling on Hermione and anger flashed in her eyes as she strode towards them and Severus practically flinched in his seat.

"What are you doing sitting here, Hermione?" Lily asked, her eyes blazing. "Is he annoying you?"

"What? Lily, no. It's okay." Hermione reassured her friend and Lily nodded stiffly.

"Come on then, dinner's on soon." Lily turned on the heel of her shoe and walked out, her robes billowing creepily reminding her of Severus in the future.

"She isn't happy, is she?" Severus asked sadly, his eyes watching as she left the library. Hermione looked at her own book and rolled her eyes.

"Of course she isn't happy, Severus, and with good reason. You don't just get over your parent's dying."

"I know that, it just – " he stopped himself, looking away from the doorway Lily disappeared and stared straight at Hermione. "Does she know?"

Hermione blinked blankly for a second, her mind still on Charms and Lily's parents and for an insane moment, she thought that he meant 'Did Lily know her parents were dead?' until her brain kicked in and she realised what he meant. "No." She stood and tucked the book under her arm, subconsciously pulling the sleeves of her white, button down shirt over her hands and Severus' eyes became somewhat sympathetic, causing Hermione to be suspicious again. "She doesn't know that I'm from a different time and she never will." She said with finality, watching as Severus sighed and started piling his things together – why he just didn't use his wand to clear everything away Hermione didn't know, but she didn't question him as she checked her book out, intending to read it at dinner – she really, really needed to study.

Together, as the clock struck six, they moved through the halls together, moving with the current of students, not trying to barge there way through. They eventually all spilled into the Great Hall and they all went to their respective tables, Hermione moving to sit beside Remus and opposite Lily, who seemed to have calmed down somewhat and smiled at Hermione.

Hermione watched as Rayne burst through the door, her blonde hair a chaotic mess around her head and a huge smile on her face – very soon would be her wedding day.

She practically flew to the space beside Lily and pounced on it, squealing happily. "Oh, where's Megara? I need to speak to her about something." She said, her blue eyes scanning the table, looking disappointed when she couldn't see Megara. Hermione knew that she should be calling her Meg, after almost a year of knowing her, but she still didn't feel comfortable.

"She's probably with James at the Quidditch Pitch – Don't forget the game for the Quidditch Cup is tomorrow." Remus said, staring at his golden plate longingly, waiting for the food to appear.

"Is it?" Rayne asked, "Wow…Where have I been?" She asked herself, scratching the back of her head. "Thoma!" She called when their friend came into view, attached at the hip with Matthew, who kissed her temple and left for the Ravenclaw table as Thoma wondered over, eyebrows raised at Rayne's call. She slid into the seat on the other side of Hermione, smiling warmly at Hermione before looking back at Rayne expectedly. "Did you know that Gryffindor could get the Quidditch cup?"

"Er…Yeah. Rayne, where have you been?" Hermione grinned at Thoma's answer, but she had to agree with Rayne – Hermione had no idea of how Gryffindor had performed during Quidditch (which in her opinion didn't help the feud between houses). Whenever Sirius talked about it, she seemed to blank out – Quidditch reminded her to much of Harry and Ron and she hadn't been to a game since…Well, technically, since 1998, which was a bizarre thought.

"Well, excuse me for being to busy wrapped up with wedding-ness!" Rayne raised her arms above her head in exasperation and Hermione smiled – so like Luna, but so different.

"Or just being wrapped up in good ole' Xeno." Someone said cheekily and Rayne glared at Peter as he sat on the other side of Remus as he gave her a cheery wave. It was so strange to see Peter messing around and making jokes, even though she'd had almost a year to get over it, it was still weird.

"You coming to the game, Hermione?" Remus asked and Hermione thought it over in her head.

"Who's playing us?"

"Ravenclaw." Hermione's eyes looked up to see James drop into the seat on the other side of Lily and Megara beside Thoma.

"Oh! Megara! I need to talk to you!" Rayne squealed loudly, drawing people's attention to her. "I want you to be my maid of honour!"

Megara gasped in surprised before nodding frantically. "Oh, Rayne! Yay-ness!" They both leant across the table simultaneously and hugged each other tightly, ignoring the sharp jab of the wood in their stomachs.

"Yeah, I think I'll watch," Hermione said to Remus, letting the two girls have their moment. Remus grinned at her and then shouted out in happiness when food blossomed on his plate and he stabbed at the bacon quite frantically. Hermione smiled and left him to it in time to see Sirius slink into the room followed by Regulus.

He strode confidently towards the Gryffindor table, still in his uniform and Hermione took a moment to admire the way that his white shirt fit against his lean body just right, the lean body that she spent every night pressed up against.

Ever since she'd been tortured, she'd yearned for his company on a night time, having nightmares when he was absent, struggling to cope through the night. It wasn't until she breeched the topic with him a few nights later that he'd confessed he felt the same, even checking in on her a fair few times every night so they'd come to a compromise. Sleep on the couch. It was charmed to be bigger and softer and easily held the both of them comfortably and she was grateful for Peter's quick thinking in the subject, even if he didn't quite know why they did this every night. He grinned at her and winked at the girls, Kara snorted and winked back dramatically and, when he reached Thoma, he bent at the waist, placing his hands on either side of her body and dropped his head to her ear, and Hermione couldn't fight the pang of jealousy in her heart but she quickly realised that he was charming her so she'd move down the bench (pushing Megara along with her) and leave the space open for him to sit there beside her and she smiled to herself – she really had got lucky when Sirius Black walked into her life.

"What have I missed?" He asked, placing his hand on her knee and squeezing gently before reaching for the plate of sausages.

"Megara is Rayne's Maid of Honour," Thoma said somewhat bitterly, stabbing her own food harshly.

"Aw, damn! You know how pretty Peter looks in blue!" Sirius quipped, sending a quick grin at Peter down the table, who scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"Oh, Sirius. You're just jealous that you weren't even in the running." Peter retorted and Hermione was surprised. At the beginning of the year, Peter had mostly taken on the jokes, not answering back but now…now he was giving back as good as he got…He was getting more courageous.

The laughter died down and Sirius slung his arm over her shoulder, drawing her closer as she opened her book on the table, flipping through the thick pages. Their charms N.E.W.T was in three days and she desperately needed to study.

"No, no, no, no, no." James told her off, waggling his finger at her before slamming the book shut. "It isn't time for studying, Hermione, it's time to eat. You're getting to thin."

"Hey. You been checking out my girl?" Sirius asked, pretending to be angry and James grinned slyly.

"Maybe…" But a sharp elbow delivered by Lily stopped him and he rubbed his stomach tenderly. "Ow." Lily rolled her eyes and picked at her meal absently, gazing off into the distance as James grumbled away beside her. "I didn't much care for that, Lily."

"A duel! For the fair maiden!" Sirius declared, slamming his fist on the wood of the table and James jumped out, pulling his wand out of his sleeve as Sirius followed suit, holding his wand in front of him like a sword. These little battles they did always amused her and the whole school seemed to appreciate it as well as they all turned their attention to the two squabbling (fakery, of course) boys in battle stance.

"Enough!" Dumbledore's voice boomed out from the Head's table and a ripple of disappointment passed through the school and Hermione herself felt down-hearted that they weren't allowed to continue.

Hermione jumped when a burst of streamers exploded from James's wand, covering everyone within radius with the colourful objects, and Dumbledore raised his eyebrows at James, who immediately sat down, Sirius barking with laughter beside her.

"I have some grave news." Dumbledore said solemnly and everyone became quiet; you could have heard a pin drop in the Great Hall that day. "There has been a threat – Voldemort's course of action. This threat has been issued to all Muggle-born's in the Wizarding World." Opposite her, Lily groaned in frustration and annoyance and Sirius's arm instantly wound its way around Hermione's waist pulling her closer to his side. "I suggest then when you leave these stone walls behind, you be very careful where you tread." His pale blue eyes settled on Hermione from behind half-moon spectacles and Hermione knew that the threat was meant for her. "Now, off to bed, all of you."

Hermione rose shakily to her feet, wondering how Harry had managed to deal with the constant threats towards him as Sirius pulled her away, out of the Great Hall before anybody else, ushering her into a secret passageway.

"Sirius, what-?" She was cut off by Sirius' lips descending on hers heatedly, his hands clutching her to him almost frantically and Hermione gasped in surprise into the kiss and he took advantage, slipping his tongue past the seam of her lips, as if he was trying to draw strength from her. She returned his kiss, as she always would, but didn't understand his sudden need, however, she wouldn't question it. He ripped his lips away from hers and trailed kisses down her jaw and her neck, sucking at her pulse point as her hands plunged into his luscious black locks and her back arched off the wall, pressing her body to his. He groaned and nipped at her skin, sliding one of his legs between both of hers and his hand grabbed her thigh, lifting it up and around his hip. Hermione felt like she was drowning but didn't want to stop. It was overwhelming, the feelings for him and was so lost in this feeling that she almost couldn't hear him...But she did.

"Never gonna hurt you…Not while I'm around…" He needed this and somewhere in the back of her mind she knew that she needed it to, to take the comfort and give her own, reassure him that she'd be fine while taking his strength for herself…While selfish she couldn't stop the train of thought and her hands moved around to his jaw and she pulled his head up, kissing him again. He groaned long and loud and his grip tightened, pushing his body into hers more, keeping her body immobile so that they could feel each other, feeling each others heartbeats, proof that they were okay. The threat had shaken them both as they both knew that it was her that Voldemort wanted, not anybody else and again she wondered how Harry lived with this fear. But then, thoughts of Harry left her mind when she felt Sirius' warm fingers against the smooth skin of her back where her white shirt had ridden up and a moan slipped from her lips and into the warm cavern of his mouth. She found her body moving automatically, because she _wanted _this – wanted to feel alive, and her small hands reached for the buttons of his white shirt and when she slid the button through the hole Sirius stiffened, like one does when the shower suddenly turns cold before he groaned, his muscles relaxing slightly and she carried till his shirt lay open and she pressed her hands to his muscular chest. His kisses became more heated and he tried to get closer to her, but Hermione didn't think they could get any closer; not even air could get between them it seemed.

"Sirius," she gasped and he moved his head back, pressing his forehead against his and she became aware that he was shaking, his body shuddering against hers. "What is it?" All she could see where his grey eyes, stormy like the sea before a storm and every cell in her body was focused on _him. _

"I can't loose you Hermione." He said quietly, not looking away from her eyes, "I don't know what you've done to me, but…Merlin, I love you."

Hermione swallowed at the truthfulness in his words and smiled at him, pressing a quick, chaste kiss to his lips. "I love you, too." It wasn't the first time he'd said the words, nor was it the first time he meant them, but this time seemed different to all the other times and Hermione didn't know why, couldn't pin-point the exact reason that this was the 'I love you' that send her heart flying, but it was.

He sighed and dropped his head to his shoulder and she rubbed his hands along his back comfortingly. What he needed he seemed to have taken and Hermione was willing to let him keep it.

"I love you," he said again, almost desperately and Hermione dropped a kiss to his temple, carding her hand through his silky hair. "Never again, Hermione."

"What's never again?" She breathed against his skin, revelling in the closeness of the moment.

He moved his head away from her shoulder and looked directly into her eyes as he reached for her right hand and she knew instantly what he was going to do.

"Sirius, no." She shied away from him (as much as she could against the stone wall), not wanting him to see the horrid scar that lay there, flawed her skin.

"Hermione." He said gently, pressing a kiss to the scar above her eyebrow that was barely noticeable, his hand holding hers gently and he moved back slightly, to reach for her sleeve. He rolled it up slowly, the word 'Mudblood' dark against her ivory skin and he breathed in sharply through his nose.

"This. Hermione, this will never happen again." He gestured to the scar and tentatively touched it with his finger before closing his eyes tightly. "I can't tell you how sorry I am." He said quietly.

"It's not your fault." She reassured him, tears pricking her eyes. She closed them when she felt his lips press to the scar and she sighed – he accepted her, completely for who she was and the scars she had and a tear slipped down her face. He loved her, wholly and completely and she felt exactly the same about him as she let her fingers trace the three long scars across his chest, that had faded and would one day turn a silvery white, almost unnoticeable in the future. Just like her own. It was the scars that hurt the most, she mused as he kissed up her scar slowly, alternating between light kisses and hard ones. Bruises heal with time, but scars stay forever, a constant reminder of the pain inflicted upon getting it, but with Sirius doing that, the pain vanished, just for a small while, and she concentrated on Sirius' lips, thankful to have been accepted.

Scars and all.

_A/N: Back to college tomorrow :( So I won't be able to update as often, but I promise that I won't leave you hanging for two months like I did before (again, I apologise.) _

_Hope you like this chapter – I cant believe this story has fifty chapters…It's strange. _

_Anyways, thanks for reading!_

_Kelly_

_xxx_


	51. NEWTs

**Disclaimer: **_Not mine_

**Weight of the World**

**Chapter 51**

As Sirius and Hermione walked silently to the Gryffindor Common Room, hands intertwined tightly, Sirius' thoughts were in a slight frenzy. He hated that she was a target that is he wasn't careful, she could be taken from him, ripped away and he really didn't know how to cope with that – the thought was enough to send his heart beating wildly like a jackhammer and his stomach coil in fear – the real thing might just about kill him. He'd nearly lost Hermione three times already and the most recent still had him gasping for breath…But the fact that she could have died wasn't what did it.

"I forgot you," he mumbled quietly, his grip on her hand tightening and she looked up at him quizzically.

"I'm sorry, did you say something?" Her voice trigged it – the words spilled from his lips before he even had a chance to think about it and he couldn't stop.

"I forgot you, Hermione. I didn't know who you were, I just looked straight through you and that hurt. Hermione, we can't keep doing this – you almost dying was painful, but at least I remembered you. But never knowing you? Hermione, I don't know how to cope with that!" He became aware that they'd stopped walking and Hermione was looking at him with surprise and sadness in her fawn brown eyes.

"You – " she faltered and took a deep breath before carrying on, "you looked at me like I was a stranger." Sirius exhaled loudly and brought his hand up to cup her cheek, lifting her head so that she was looking directly into his eyes.

"You were. I didn't…for those few moments, Hermione, I didn't love you." He hated saying it, the words that he had said almost ripped his own heart and Hermione's mouth dropped open, horror now reflecting in those eyes. "But you see, that's the thing – I do love you, so much and I know that you could die but at least…At least I'd remember you. Not remembering you? Never knowing you? That hurts a million times more that loosing you." He could honestly say that all his life he had never been so truthful with a girl. He and Olivia had had their moments, but this – what he shared with Hermione was enough to spill his heart and soul to her because, in effect, they were hers. She had him wrapped around her little finger. Jump, she could say. How high? He would ask.

"Sirius –"

"You life is dangerous. I get that. You're on Voldemort's hit list, you're a Muggle-Born, you know that end of possibly every person in existence…But I have to say it. Hermione, please be safe. I can't forget you again."

"Maybe it would better if you did." Hermione said quietly, a tear rolling down her face and Sirius knew how hard this was for her to talk about this.

"Better? Hermione, how in Earth could this be better?"

"I just…Wouldn't you rather forget someone then have them die?" She asked and Sirius closed his eyes, bringing her head foreword, his lips resting between her eyes.

"No." He said honestly. If he forgot Hermione he would loose a half of himself and walk around for the rest of his life with an ache inside of him, always trying to fill it but he knew he would never succeed. "If you die I'll still have your memories."

"That will hold you back from a real life," she cut in, reaching her hands up to cradle the side of his face.

"No, Hermione. Loosing you that would destroy me, but I'd get back up again. For you."

Hermione's smile at that moment was so heart-warming, directed only at him and he couldn't resist the temptation, lowering his head so his lips met hers, lips he wanted to kiss his whole entire life. Because she was a part of him and nothing could tear that away.

* * *

"Go, Go Gryffindor! Go, Go Gryffindor! Go, Go Gryffindor!" The chant was steadily filling up the Common Room as James was lifted up onto Sirius and Remus' shoulders, holding the Quidditch cup high above his head. The Gryffindor team had slaughtered Ravenclaw at 250 to 20 before Megara spotted the Snitch and the game ended on a high note for the Lions.

Hermione was perched on the couch, a bottle of Butterbeer held loosely in her hand as he eyes scanned the red circular room watching the festivities. Red and gold confetti fell magically from the ceiling continuously, covering every available surface it could and she was sure that a lot of it was tangled in her bushy brown hair. She watched as James hollered in happiness, bouncing slightly in Sirius and Remus' hold and Sirius wolf-whistled as Remus sent a high-five to Peter, who held his own butterbeer. Megara and Rayne were giggling and talking amongst themselves in the corner and Lily was cheering for her boyfriend, jumping up and down slightly as James' hand found hers, clasping it as he slid from his make-shift seat, picking her up and spinning her around, joy written across his face; Kara was sat on Summer's lap on the armchair beside the couch, Autumn perched on the arm looking proud to be a Gryffindor as Thoma danced to herself in the middle of the room, singing along to the loud music playing from the speakers.

It was strange, Hermione thought as she raised the bottle of butterbeer to her lips that they could be here, happy while outside the stone walls and safety of Hogwarts perimeters Voldemort was plotting and planning the countless deaths of thousands.

"Hey, babe." Sirius said as he dropped down beside her, his hand on her knee and a huge smile on his face, Gryffindor pride seemingly seeping from every pore.

"Babe?" She asked, a teasing smile on her lips, "that's a new one."

"I've probably used it before."

"You always call me pet names." She summarized and Sirius' eyes practically lit up.

"Of course I do. Shows others that you're mine, sweetheart." His hand slid up her leg, over her thigh and onto her hip. "I don't like other men touching what's mine." He slid up the sofa and his lips dropped to just behind her ear, softly caressing the skin. "And you are most definitely mine." Hermione let out a very un-Hermione giggle as Sirius took the Butterbeer from her hands and dropped it on the table, ignoring when it tilted and spilt all over the scarlet carpet underneath and honestly, Hermione didn't care either. She was a bit distracted by Sirius' hands, moving around her waist and he shifted so his weight was over her, his mouth lapping at her throat and one hand raking through her curls as Hermione sighed and placed her hands on his pectoral muscles, feeling a strange sort of satisfaction when the muscles hardened under her touch.

"Okay, everybody stop! Including you Sirius or I will cover you in a bucket of cold water." James threatened, though it was barely audible through the cheers and music and pouncing of feet. Sirius groaned against her skin and let his head drop, so his mouth hovered over her shoulder.

"I am going to kill him," Hermione heard faintly and smiled when he pressed a quick kiss to her shoulder before sitting her up, dragging her to sit against him, his arm resting happily across her shoulders.

"Thankyou. Okay, everybody, be quiet." Not many people paid heed and Sirius rolled his eyes before leaping onto the coffee table and pointed his wand at his throat and his voice boomed throughout the room, echoing back:

"EVERYONE SHUT UP!" Everyone stared wide-eyed at Sirius who shoved his hands in his pocket, shrugging at them all and smiling sheepishly at James, who looked amused at his best friend's antics.

"Okay then. Well, I have an announcement." The attention was shifted to James who looked so at ease standing in front of the Gryffindor's, still wearing his mud splattered Quidditch robes. "First I would like to say this was entirely a team effort – This cup goes to everyone who played today and I shouldn't be the only one holding it." He lifted the cup up, gleaming in the candle light before handing it down to Autumn, who was the keeper on the team. "Phillips – you're the new Gryffindor captain." She stared at James momentarily before squealing in happiness, jumping up and down on the spot as she held the cup gallantly above her head. Hermione smiled for the girl, having got to know her a bit more through Kara.

"Also…Well…I was actually going to wait until Graduation day to do this, but I don't think I can." James said sincerely, turning to look at Lily stood beside him, who was looking at him, waiting for him to continue. "Lily Evans. I just…Wow, I can't believe I'm doing this in front of all those people risking total humiliation but…You are the most amazing girl I've ever met and no-one has made me feel like you do. You're the one." James took a deep breath and kneeled down on one knee before Lily whose eyes were slightly watery and she had a hand clasped over her mouth. Nervous anticipation pulsed around everybody as they waited, staring intently at the couple and beside her, Sirius let out a "Whoop!" punching the air with his fist.

"Lily…Will you marry me?" Even Hermione felt nervous for the messy haired boy even though she knew that Lily would say yes.

The girl in question was staring at the ring that Hermione could see wasn't a tradition diamond but instead, a Ruby sat on the white gold band, which Hermione knew to be Lily's favourite gemstone.

"Yes." The word was barely whispered but everybody heard it and everyone, in synch, let out an almighty cheer. Absolute relief seemed to sweep through everybody and the music started up again, drinks were passed around and James and Lily were kissing in the background like their lives depended on it, the Ruby glinting on Lily's left ring finger.

* * *

N.E.W.T's passed fairly quickly for Hermione and she found that, as long as she focused on these and these alone then the impending threat from Voldemort seemed to fade to the recesses of her mind, ready for her to deal with later.

On Monday they had their first exam, Charms with Flitwick. They had to charm little toys to come to life and place protective charms on a toy castle so that the army men couldn't get in – the only one exempt from this exam was Carrie Green, who had a huge fear of toys coming to life and instead, she performed a different charm, though what it was, Hermione wasn't sure. That afternoon, they had potions and Hermione made her Shizzani potion in record time and Slughorn nodded approvingly at the golden liquid.

On Tuesday they had their D.A.D.A exam and they had to beat Quinton in a duel. The whole class was present and everybody managed to cause some harm to Quinton, although the only ones who actually won against the teacher was Hermione, James, Sirius, Lily, Megara and Severus, who wiped the floor with Quinton within a fair few seconds.

Wednesday was Transfiguration and they had to do something to impress McGonagall. There was no rules set, no instructions to follow and Hermione found it harder then her other exams were she had been told exactly what to do. She ended up turning every desk in they room into a different farmyard animal and McGonagall blinked in surprise when her desk turned into a donkey, chewing lazily on a bale of hay. Wednesday afternoon was Arithmancy and all she had to do was figure out the extremely complicated sum on the board and explain, in great detail, how she had come to her answer (9'860).

Thursday morning, Hermione was the only one with a exam and she trudged up to the Ancient Runes classroom, Sirius' shout of encouragement echoing throughout the corridor behind her. Because of exams, they hadn't spent that much time together this past week and Hermione was staring to miss him. Thursday evening was Astronomy and they had to plan out on a map the entire exterior of Jupiter's orbit.

Friday was the last day of exams and Hermione could have fainted in relief – only to exams left for her. Rayne was revising for her Muggle Studies exam and kept pestering Lily and Hermione with answers.

"What's the thing that goes "Berring! Berring!" Lily laughed at Rayne's very accurate impression of a telephone and James told her what it was. "Ahh…What's the man called like a healer that fixes you when you're hurt?"

Hermione smiled at Rayne and looked up at the Teachers Table, slightly surprised to see Dumbledore looking at her, eyes twinkling madly.

"Hermione, come on love. Herbology awaits us." In Herbology they had Mandrakes before them and Hermione knew exactly what she was doing – she had done this in second year. Divination was the last practical exam and the only written exam they had (History of Magic) wasn't until Monday. Hermione climbed up the ladder pushing the trapdoor above her head open and crawled in, smiling at Professor Daniels whose pure white hair was pinned behind her ears.

"Good afternoon, Hermione. This exam is very easy. Look at the map of the planets and tell me my future. Remember, I am a Leo." Hermione glanced at the map above the desk and pretended to peer curiously at it.

"Well, the position of Mars tells me that you, as a Leo of course will soon come into a great position in your life, but the moon's orbit also says that you will loose what you have worked hard to gain." She didn't like the subject, but she was still going to revise for it. Professor Daniel's smiled brightly and stood, extending a hand for Hermione to take.

"Wait…That's it?" Hermione asked as the witch shook her hand and led her gently to the trapdoor.

"Indeed, Miss Kingsley. That the ex—" she stopped mid word and when Hermione looked up at her, she was shaking and her eyes were pure white.

"Professor Daniels?"

"_The time has changed…Shifting…" _She was talking like a 60-a-day smoker, her voice harsh and raspy. "_No longer will they come to harm…Prophecy has changed…The boy who lived…Never comes close to death…" _Her body seemed to jolt and she coughed loudly, almost hacking, her hand coming up to her throat, rubbing soothingly. "What are you still doing here, Miss Kingsley? That's the exam done. Off you go."

Hermione didn't need telling twice and she practically flew down the stairs, almost crashing into Severus before running full speed down the corridor, passing Lily and James who were leaning against the wall and she ignored Lily's call. She threw herself into Quinton's classroom.

"You know, Hermione, knocking is also a useful method as well."

"I think I've done it." She gasped, holding her hand over her heart which was beating furiously in her chest, "I think I've saved James and Lily."

She didn't know how, she didn't know why, but she had and she couldn't be happier – Harry would never have the lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead; he must have been who Professor Daniels meant by the "boy who lived" there couldn't be anyone else.

Of course, she understood that they weren't completely out of the woods yet and James and Lily could die at some point, but the knowledge that Harry would be spared the horror of Voldemort wanting him dead was enough for her to feel relief course through her veins.

On Monday, they had their History of Magic exam and afterwards, James burst through the door arms wide open and eyes closed, breathing in deeply. "Ahh…FREEDOM!"

"Until you have your Auror exam in a few months." Rayne said, grinning at the six foot boy.

"You always ruin it, don't you?" James asked, practically deflating before throwing his arm around Rayne's shoulder. "So…What am I doing at your wedding?"

"You're gonna sit there, making no noise and not ruining the wedding." Rayne said sternly, poking him hard in the chest. Sirius rolled his eyes at the pair and glanced at Hermione, who looked distracted.

"I don't have a part?" James asked, outraged.

"I could un-invite you!" Rayne threatened and the two continued to bicker as they walked ahead, leaving Sirius and Hermione to lag behind.

"You okay?" Sirius asked, interlacing their fingers and Hermione smiled up at him.

"Yeah. I actually am." Hermione looked away for a second and let out a sigh, "Regulus is coming."

Sirius looked up at his little brother, who was walking somewhat angrily towards them.

"I know where it is." Was all he said and Sirius and Hermione knew that they couldn't rest yet – they needed to meet Regulus in the kitchens to sort out a plan that night.

* * *

"Where is it?" Sirius asked, dropping opposite his brother and raising his eyebrows expectantly.

"A cave somewhere – Voldemort believes he has the perfect place and he's more or less right – it's unplottable, you can't apparate in our out, the Horcrux is protected by an evil potion that makes you live your worst memories and Inferi surround the lake. This would be difficult, but we have something that Voldemort doesn't." Regulus said in a matter of face way, almost as if discussing the weather, leaning back in his chair, linking his hands behind his head.

"And what's that?" Sirius asked, laying his arm flat on the table, leaning forewords.

Regulus smirked and clicked his fingers, a loud cracking noise followed and Sirius breathed out harshly at the smaller then human finger, with a bulbous nose, bloodshot eyes and many folds of skin.

Kreacher.

Sirius couldn't help the bark of laughter escaping his lips as he gazed at his family's house-elf, but instantly felt guilty as he remembered that Kreacher was the one to take him to Hermione when she'd been tortured. And he saw that Kreacher looked awful – his skin was paler then normal, he was more hunched over and he seemed to be gasping for breath.

"What's wrong with him?" Hermione asked from beside him and he saw Regulus shoot the House-elf a look of sadness. Sirius himself had never cared for the creature, but he owed him a lot.

"He didn't take me to the cave. He took Kreacher. Left him there, but I ordered him to come back, so he apparated out. House-Elf's magic is—"

"Different to ours. He can get us in!" Hermione said joyously and Regulus nodded.

"It should be relatively easy, the only problem really is drinking the potion – no way is Kreacher going through it again so…I'll do it."

"Don't be a hero, Regulus." Sirius said instantly, not happy with the image of Regulus relieving his worst memories.

"I'm not! But…Well, I think Hermione should stay here."

"Agreed!"

"No!" Hermione cut in, glaring at the Black brothers who were for once united by their common ground to keep Hermione safe – he wasn't a fool, he knew that Regulus cared for his Muggle-born girlfriend.

"Hermione," Sirius said gently, turning in his seat to face her, slightly afraid for his life. "Listen, you're not supposed to leave the castle, look at what happened last time."

"You're joking right? Sirius, I came here to do this –"

"And now I'm here to keep you safe. Hermione, please, just this once, let me and Regulus go." Hermione switched her gaze between the brothers, looking indecisive before she sighed and nodded once, causing Sirius to punch the air in victory.

"I won one! I won one!"

Regulus shook his head while Hermione smiled in amusement at him. "Okay, now that that's over…How are you going to get this Horcrux then?"

"Well, it's relatively simple, Kingsley. Kreacher will apparate me and Sirius into the cave, I'll drink the potion –" Sirius made a noise of frustration but it was ignored by both, "grab the Horcrux and put a fake on in there instead, so that Voldemort won't know that it's me that's helping you. We'll do it the day after graduation." Regulus told her, and Sirius wondered how Regulus had time to do all of these plans as well as score high marks on his end of year tests.

"…It can't be that simple." Hermione said, frowning.

"That's just it though – with Kreacher by our side, it is."

* * *

Hermione was in the Common Room, thinking about Regulus' plan – she hated that she wasn't going, she wasn't helping and she hated that. She stared at the fire as if it held all the answers and felt her eyelids grow heavy – Sirius rubbed her belly and sat up from where he lay behind her, yawning deeply.

"Don't think too much, sweetheart, you'll give yourself a migraine." His fingers fluttered over her temple before he leant over and kissed her neck lightly, causing her to shiver.

"I can't help it Sirius – you're basically walking into the unknown and anything could happen." She'd heard the story from Harry, how Harry had gone for some water and the Inferi attacked, dragging him under into the depths of the blackened lake. "You can't touch the water – promise me," she said somewhat desperately, turning over in his grasp to look into his eyes, trying to convey her emotions. Sirius cupped her face in his palm and nodded once, his hair falling effortlessly into his eyes.

"I love you, Hermione." He softly kissed her, tracing her lips with his tongue. "So much."

_A/N: I'm back! I hope this chapter is to your liking – I know it's a bit jumbled, but that's because it's leading onto the other chapter and you need all this or it just wont make sense. Credit to __**xCHARLIExPEACHx**__ I hope you like it._

_Okay, reason for my absence of updating: College. A perfectly good excuse I'd wager – I think it should be illegal to give out Essay's during the first two weeks, but now I have a system – get in, write my evil, infuriating essays and write for a bit, till my mind turns to mush and I go to bed. _

_Thanks for the patience and I apologize – I have no Essay's this weekend, so I should get a lot done. _

_Love you all! (In a non-creepy, not-at-all stalker way, of course) _

_Kelly_

_Xxx_

_Oh, yeah – Reviewers for the last chapter – I wish I could reply properly, but my E-mails won't let me at all. I really am sorry and I hate not replying, but it wont let me. So sorry! _


	52. Graduation

**Disclaimer: **_Don't own_

**Weight of the World**

**Chapter 52**

_May 28__th__ 1978_

"Goodbye Lake. Goodbye Squid. Goodbye tree…" Sirius leaned against said tree and sighed deeply – he really was going to miss this place. In two hours they would graduate and that would be it. Sirius hadn't really thought about what he wanted to do after he left the school except for two things – he wanted to be an Auror was the first thing and he started training for that in a few weeks and the second thing that he knew was Hermione. One way or another, she would be in his life.

He gazed up at the quivering branches of the tree and looked at the smooth bark that would one day grow ragged and peel off with age and he wondered briefly why nobody had left their mark on the wayward tree. He slipped his wand out of his back pocket and smiled, cutting through the wood slowly, carefully, watching his masterpiece unfold. He stepped back and nodded in approved at the S.B + H.G engraved and patted the trunk of the tree once before cutting in another set of initials. J.P + L.E came next followed by M.Y + T.E, K.D + S.P and R.H + X.L

Sure, some of these couples might not make it, but that didn't matter. These were who they were now, lost in love and happiness, stupid eighteen and seventeen year olds who made their mark upon the school – Besides, after tonight, Hogwarts would never, ever forget them.

"Sirius, are you defiling that tree?"

"Of course I am, love." Sirius couldn't fight the smile that threatened to take over at the sound of her voice and he didn't even try. It was an automatic reaction to her.

"You know, these aren't own here in my time." Hermione said, running her fingers over the letters, "and my last name's Kingsley, Sirius."

"Nah, its Granger. People can call you Kingsley, but you'll always be Granger – it's who you are." Sirius said, sliding his arm about her waist, his hair tickling his nose when she leant her head against his shoulder.

"True." She stood on her tippy-toes and pressed her lips to his in a chaste kiss, one he wanted to turn passionate, but she moved away, dancing from his grip.

"Where are you going?" He asked as she practically ran away, her laugh reaching his ears.

"To get ready to graduate!" She answered back, turning, smiling beautifully at him and his heart caught in his throat – he was so lucky to have her in his life, it was unbelievable. "You coming or what?" She held her hand out to him, palm up, fingers stretched, totally open. Vulnerable. Inviting. Filled with trust and hope and a future. It was strange how one gesture made him think that. He ran up to her and took her hand instantly, interlacing their fingers becoming second nature to them and together they walked back to the majestic castle that Sirius had always viewed as his home and then his second home when he moved in with the Potters. Never, in his life did he view the house he grew up in his _home _it was just simply the place he lived.

Now that he really thought about it, the feelings of home for him had changed – it no longer became a secure place with four walls (or you know, a hundred) where he felt safe and secure surrounded by love ones – during this last year it had been anywhere and everywhere as long as Hermione was stood by his side.

* * *

Hermione sighed somewhat nervously, shuffling from foot to foot, wringing her hands together. Behind her, Remus suppressed laughter while in front of her, Megara had her England hat on her head, swaying back and forth. Despite the fact that England failed to Qualify for the Football World Cup, they sailed through in the Quidditch World Cup and Megara had managed to get them all tickets for England's game, which Hermione was strangely looking foreword to.

"Calm down, Hermione." Remus whispered and Hermione nodded, her wizarding hat not sitting properly on her crazy hair. She looked down at the red robes she was wearing and was strangely proud at the Gryffindor emblem there.

"Ooooh…We're going in!" Megara said, rocking backwards and forewords on her feet.

Hermione's stomach exploded with nerves as she watched Sirius, who was at the front, lead the line of Seventh years into the Great Hall. Everyone followed, somewhat nervously and gasped at the decorated Great Hall – streamers were exploding from the wall and the house banners were strung across the ceiling, showing the brilliantly sunny day outside, muggle balloons were bobbing about and the whole place just had a cheery feeling to it. As they entered the hall, they were met with applause and cheering from friends and family and Hermione felt a pang in her heart that her parents weren't there – they weren't even together yet and wouldn't be till around next month.

Hermione sat down and smiled at James and Lily, who were sat at the very front beside all the teachers, but Hermione couldn't help the pang of resentment towards Lily – Hermione had missed her chance to be Head Girl and a part of her felt that she should be the one up there.

Professor Dumbledore stood up to the podium, smiling at everyone, eyes twinkling as usual. He held his hands out for silence, the sleeves of his royal blue robes falling to his elbows and Hermione saw that the underside was a deep red colour, his wizards hat was green and the robes he was wearing was accented with yellow hues.

"Welcome students of 1978 – it's been a good, strong year this year with some new arrivals –" he looked directly at Hermione and she felt her skin flush slightly in embarrassment, "new teachers," Quinton bowed his head and fixed his bright yellow robes and Professor Daniels beside him smiled widely, a huge contrast in her blue ones. "and new friends. But, let's not dwell on what I have to say, I am a bit, well, out of my time. So, please a round of applause for Lily Evans and James Potter, you're Head Girl and Boy." Every house (aside from the Slytherin's) cheered and clapped for the two and Sirius and Remus wolf-whistled.

"Okay, calm down – I know that I'm devilishly hot and – ow!" James rubbed his chest where Lily had hit him and Peter yelled from behind Hermione "Get in there, Evans!"

"Shut up, Peter!" James yelled and Peter sniggered as he rested back in his seat, "I only have one thing to say and I'm sure that you'll all agree with me, so here it goes: Thank God we're done with education." This was met with an uproar of cheers which even the Slytherin's joined in. Hermione chuckled and clapped along with everyone else, not in the least bit surprised that that was James' leaving words.

"Thank you James. Having sat through seven years of education, I can safely say that I am going to really miss this place. I grew up here, I have friends, family – some relationships didn't last but they'll always be remembered. I will look back at this time with nothing but fond memories and a sense of nostalgia as I wish to be back here, my second home. Hogwarts has been solid ground for years, getting me through some tough times but now it's time to leave and that's scary to me. But, with the friendships and bonds that we've made over the years will get us through. Well done class of '87…We did it!" The students cheered again and all stood as one, throwing their hats in the air and hugging the people next to them – for that one moment, Houses didn't matter as Remus and Daniel Nate, a Ravenclaw, high-fived, Severus Snape and Peter Pettigrew shook hands and Sirius and Eric Crawler laughed with each other – it was strange that boundaries were dropped and mixture of red, blue, green and yellow robes were mixed together, uncaring in that moment.

Dumbledore once again stood at the podium as James and Lily hugged happily, a blob of red on the stage and Dumbledore smiled at the pair before addressing the students.

"And now, the elusive Hogwarts diploma will be in your hands in a matter of moments. First up: Black, Sirius!"

Sirius jumped to his feet and punched the air before moon-walking towards where Dumbledore stood holding the diploma, an amused smile on his face.

"Thankyou!" Sirius said as he shook Dumbledore's hand extravagantly, "I'm the first one!" He singed as he moved down the line of teachers admist the shouts of encouragement and when he reached Professor McGonagall, he wrapped his arms around her tightly and hugged her so hard he lifted her off the floor.

"Crawler, Eric!" Dumbledore yelled and the Slytherin went up normally as Sirius dropped McGonagall to her feet, who looked shocked – her glasses were askew on her face and her hat had been knocked off her head.

* * *

Hermione clutched her diploma to her chest as the choir sang their final words and the students dispensed, going to their families or friends, or both and Hermione sighed, staying in her seat having nobody to go to. She watched as Sirius, James and Lily went to Mr and Mrs Potter and they were all swept up into a huge hug, Mrs Potter crying for all she was worth. Remus, Peter and the girls all went to their respective parents and they were all bestowed upon with happiness (Peter by his mother – his father wasn't there) and she watched with a sense of sadness. It was unfair, really, Hermione thought as she watched students being hugged, kissed, teased, cried on and laughed with at their achievement where as Hermione had nobody.

"Depressing, isn't it?" Hermione swivelled in her seat quickly to see Severus standing there, a look of contentment on his face which Hermione didn't understand.

"Where are you parents?" Hermione asked, scratching the back of her head.

"Oh, mother doesn't bother with silly things like this and my father died a while ago. He was a Muggle anyway."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Hermione said truthfully as Severus sat down beside her, tucking his diploma away into his green robes.

"Don't be, I never much cared for either of them, always arguing and what-not." He waved his hand dismissively and Hermione took the hint – she left that topic alone despite her curiosity.

"What's next for you then, Severus? Jumping on the Death Eater band wagon?"

"Actually, Kingsley, I have a job here as an apprentice to Slughorn," he said somewhat smugly and Hermione was about to retort when Lily materialized at her side, grabbing her hand and pulling her up and away from the Slytherin.

"Hermione, don't go near him, okay?" She hissed as she dragged her away and Hermione was about to ask why when Sirius wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close to him.

"So, you're the girl that took Sirius' heart?" Mrs Potter asked and Hermione found herself, for once in her life, having no idea what to say.

"Come off it Rach, leave her be." Mr Potter said, laughing to himself.

"I was only asking her a question, Harold." Mrs Potter sniffed and crossed her arms, moving away from him and he just laughed at her before extending a hand out to Hermione, who shook it somewhat hesitantly.

"Nice to see that you've picked a winner, son!" Harold boomed and Sirius smiled proudly next to her, pulling her even closer to the confines of his body.

"Come on, Hermione," Sirius pulled her with him to the very corner of the room and backed her up straight into it till back met the wall. He placed one hand by her head and used the other one to bring her head foreword to sit on his shoulder, her face buried in the messes of fabric making it slightly hard to breath. "On three, you have to stop breathing for a minute."

"Why?" She asked, but her question was muffled and she doubted that he could hear it.

"One…" He buried his face in her hair, his lips by her ear and his tongue snaked out and lightly traced the shell of it. "Two…" He slightly groaned as Hermione's hands slowly slid under the red fabric and onto his shirt. "Three!"

Obediently, Hermione held her breath as she didn't want to know what would happen if she didn't and Sirius grip on her tightened as she clamped her eyes shut – it almost felt as if someone had poured dust all over the pair of them and she felt like she was suffocating.

Then it stopped and when Sirius' hand dropped from the back of her head and landed on the small of her back, she knew it was safe to open her eyes and she gladly took in a deep breath.

"What was that?" She asked Sirius, who had the prankster glint in his eye.

"Look, my love," he said, standing aside and Hermione tried really hard not to laugh, but she couldn't help it.

Everyone was flapping their arms madly, as if doing so would enable them to fly and Rayne skipped up to them, twirling once, her long blonde hair following her motions as she curtseyed. "I can grant you three wishes." She said in a hypnotic voice and Sirius barked a laugh.

"What did you do to them?" Hermione asked as Severus ran past flapping his arms frantically before vaulting himself over a chair, failing horribly and getting his leg caught, tipping both the chair and himself over. Hermione glanced back at Sirius, who had his arm tight around his middle, tears falling from his eyes at the force of his laughs.

James wondered over dazedly at them, clutching at Sirius bicep and falling to his knees before him, muttering, "Why won't my wings work? _Why?" _

"He thinks he's a fairy," Sirius gasped out, "they all do."

"We are fairies! We belong in the forest with the others, dancing and twirling…Why won't my wings work?"

"Sirius, you have outdone yourself." Hermione grinned as Sirius caught his breath, "but you have to fix it."

"I will." He promised, throwing his arm casually over Hermione's shoulders, his free hand in the front pocket of his jeans, "but for now, just sit back and watch the hilarity of the situation." He kissed her temple, hiding a laugh in her hair as Dumbledore waltzed past. She had to hand it to him, he really was a genius.

* * *

Hermione, Sirius, James, Remus, Lily and Peter were all lined up in Dumbledore's office, watching silently as Dumbledore stared at them, his chin resting on the back of his hand as he looked at each of them in turn. Sirius had easily fixed them all after their bout of believing they were fairies and most had attacked Sirius with vengeance while James and Remus had set the fireworks off, scaring half the people and creating one hell of a show. Through it all, Dumbledore hadn't said a word except after the display and asked them quietly to come to his office.

Hermione had a sneaking suspicion of what it was about when she saw Hagrid and Professor McGonagall stood behind Dumbledore's desk.

"I have built an organization fighting against Voldemort and I want you to join. The organization is called the Order of the Phoenix and I feel that you six would work well with the team I have already assembled." He said calmly and McGonagall's lips were pulled into a thin line, showing that she didn't care much for this.

"Definitely!" James called, not even needing to think, "I'm all up for it, Dumbledore!"

"I think it's safe to say that we're all in," Hermione smiled and the rest nodded in agreement.

"Good! The meeting was supposed to be June 1st, but since I've been invited to Miss Humes wedding, I think we'll move it back a few days. Now, off to the train with you all!" He stood and gestured to the door, ushering them all out. Hermione wondered if the others had been recruited this way before she came along but she decided not to dwell on it as James insisted on another circuit of the castle to say goodbye to their home for the past seven years.

The train ride was solemn and nobody felt much like laughing – even Sirius and James seemed to have lost the ability to crack a joke as Hogwarts got smaller and smaller in the distance. Sirius sighed sadly and laid his head on Hermione's shoulder, entwining their fingers while their hands were perched on Hermione's knee as Rayne babbled on about wedding plans, Lily talked to James about moving in with Hermione as Remus looked on sadly – as a Werewolf, it would be extremely hard to get a job as they were really discriminated against.

As the train pulled into the Train Station at Kings Cross, nobody said anything as they collected their luggage and left the train, watching sadly the 1st years up to 6th years as they talked animatedly with promises of seeing them at the start of next term – they'd all see each other at Rayne's wedding, but after that Hermione wasn't sure.

Hugs were exchanged and then they departed, each heading for the respective homes while Sirius and Hermione apparated to the borders of Hermione's new home, Hermione (and Lily when she officially moved in) was able to apparate directly to the house, and even then she couldn't actually apparate inside. She opened the door for them both and stepped past the protective wards, Sirius holding tightly to her hand.

He kicked the door closed with his foot and pulled her close to him, his hand tangling in her crazy hair as he kissed her deeply, nipping at her rose coloured lips and she responded in kind, her tongue twining with his as he pushed her backwards till the backs of her knees hit the edge of the couch and she was forced to sit, pulling Sirius with her till they were both laid flat, Sirius kissing her deeply as she hiked her leg around his hip and he leaned his weight on his elbow by her head as his fingers ploughed through her hair, bringing her face closer to his, her nose bumping against his lightly.

"Sirius…" She sighed as her hands roamed his muscular back over the top of his shirt and she slipped her hands underneath the material, pleased when she felt his shudder above her.

It was surreal, she thought as he moved to kiss her neck, moving his body against hers just enough for her body to respond in kind, that she was here – she'd graduated Hogwarts, she was with Sirius, with her own safe home with Lily, her best friend, moving in a few days later – if it wasn't for all the Horcrux hunting and the overwhelming threat of Voldemort, right now, life would be perfect.

* * *

She took it back the very next day, she thought as she apparated to the Vine Home and walked in easily, not even bothering with knocking – today, Regulus and Sirius were getting ready to go and get the Locket and, once they had that, then they only had one more Horcrux to get before they had them all and the destruction could begin.

She walked into the Living room and Dining room to see Regulus and Sirius bent over the table, discussing in low voices their plan, seemingly not noticing the girl who stood behind them, arms crossed and tapping her foot in annoyance, waiting for them to turn around and see her.

She hadn't slept very well last night – well, at all. First of all, it was the first time that she hadn't sleep with Sirius since her torture (as Hermione demanded that she needed to live independently) and what little sleep she had was mixed with her screams of anguish and tremendous pain and second of all, she was terrified for her boyfriend and his brother. What if this plan just turned awful and she wasn't there to help them? But they wouldn't let her go and with no House-Elf of her own, she had no way of getting there.

She coughed to let them know she was here and Sirius turned quickly, smiling at her as he held his hand out and she stepped foreword, taking it in her grasp.

"Sleep well?" She asked around a yawn and Sirius shook his head truthfully. "No, me neither."

"Well, I slept great. Now, let's go Sirius. Kreacher!" He called and the House Elf appeared beside him, looking eager to be helping his master.

"In a minute, Regulus." Sirius said tiredly, pulling Hermione closer to him, pressing his lips to her forehead. "Be safe." He whispered and Hermione almost laughed – he was the one going into an Inferi infested lake and he was telling her to be safe?

"Back at you." She whispered, turning her head to the side pressing a kiss to the side of his throat and his arms came around her in an embrace, crushing her to his chest.

"Sirius!"

"Okay! I'll be back soon, Hermione. I promise." Hermione nodded regretfully and before she could say anything else, Sirius had moved away and had Kreacher's hand in his and a huge 'crack' echoed throughout the room, leaving her feeling suspiciously cold and empty.

000

Sirius almost lost his footing when he landed on solid ground and he felt odd, like somebody had punched him in the kidney – he never did take side-along apparition very well.

"Okay, here we are," Regulus muttered under his breath, running a hand through his windswept hair and Sirius took a moment to look at his surroundings. The cave was deep and dark and they were stood on an island that was surrounded by undisturbed, murky water. A tall basin stood in the centre of the Island that Sirius knew held the Horcrux – he could practically feel its power pulsating from where he was stood, trying to draw him closer.

"You got the fake Horcrux?" Sirius asked his brother, watching as he slid the bag from his shoulder, letting it hit the floor with a bang misappropriate to its size.

"Yeah," Sirius didn't miss the slight crack to Regulus' voice as they both crept closer to the basin. Inside was a potion that looked like a mother-or-pearl colour. "Let's do this." Regulus sighed and Sirius watched as his hand reached out for the shell shaped scooper balancing on the edge.

"Reg, wait. I don't think you should do this. At all." Sirius said, catching Regulus' wrist in his grasp, pulling it away. He might not have talked to Regulus in a while, but he was still his little brother and he couldn't just stand by while Regulus was in pain, it was against his big-brother moral code.

"Come on, Sirius. After all I've done, I think it's fair that I do this." Before Sirius could utter another thing, Regulus was already drinking down a scoopful of the potion. At first nothing happened and he managed to have five sips before his eyes clouded over slightly and his muscles twitched, his hands shaking so badly that he dropped the scooper.

"Reg?" He placed his hand on his brother's shoulder hesitantly, not wanting to hurt him even more. He took an involuntary step back when Regulus did, his whole weight shifting and he almost fell, but Sirius had a tight grip around him. "Feed…Potion…Have…Please…" Sirius stared at his brother in shock, who's legs were shaking and about to fall out from underneath him, not believing what he was hearing – he wanted the potion to be fed to him! That wasn't right, that wasn't fair.

"Regulus, you know I can't do that." He said softly and Regulus' hand got tangled in Sirius shirt, pulling meekly.

"Have…to…" He gasped and Sirius knew that he was right. It didn't make it any easier though as he shifted his brother to one arm and kept him there, scooping out the potion and then putting it to his brother's lips, forcing him to drink it. The sobs that eventually came from his brother during this torment was painful and he almost stopped, but them he remembered what Hermione said when he had left her house last night.

"_He'll want to stop, but he can't – and I'm not saying that to be cruel or unfair, but he needs to keep drinking it. The whole potion needs to be drank or you can't get the Horcrux that's underneath. I'm sorry, Sirius, but it's the only way…" _

Sirius cursed the potion as his brother begged for him to stop, but he shushed him, pulling him closer, promising that it'd be okay, that he'd make it better, like when they were kids. They're mother never had much time for them and it was always him or Kreacher that fixed up a tiny Regulus when he fell over or soothed his night-time fears away. Sirius hadn't seen his brother as his brother in a long time and it was a slight shock to the system at just how brave his brother was – not only was he facing this potion totally aware of the effects, but he was also ultimately betraying Voldemort and Sirius felt that the punishment for betrayal would be so much worse then the punishment if you were against him from the outside would be.

"_I didn't mean to make you feel ashamed. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, please make it stop." _His little brother was tearing his heart apart and he couldn't do anything about it but sit here with his brother's weight beside him, enforcing the pain upon him.

"No, I'm sorry, little brother. I turned against you and I shouldn't have." He said as he fed him another scoopful of the potion, his thumb rubbing in soothing circles against his brother's neck. "I can't imagine what you're reliving in their Reg," he said sadly, going to scoop another part of the potion but finding that he came away with no more. Excitement seemed to burst foreword in his chest and he scrambled up to his knees, his hand on Regulus' chest, keeping him still as he looked into the basin, empty of all potion except for a bit that lingered under a large, silver locket with a 'S' scribed on it with green gems, giving the appearance of a moving snake. He dropped the scoop and reached his hand out for the locket, picking it up gingerly, shocked at how cold it was, as if it had been left out in the lake during the dead of night. It felt heavy in his hand and he automatically tried to open it, but it wouldn't budge, locked tightly at the clasp.

"We did it, little brother," Sirius said happily, wiping at his face, removing the salty traces that he didn't even know were there until that moment. "We did it. You did good, Reg." He looked down to his brother, only to see that he was not there. Frantically, his grey eyes darted about to see Regulus crawling towards the water, coughing dryly.

"Reg, Regulus, no!" Sirius quickly threw the fake Horcrux in the basin that Regulus had given him sometime between the fifteenth drink of the potion and the twentieth and didn't even stop to watch the potion reappear, sprouting from the sides as if from tiny, invisible taps, fill up to the top again.

He hurried to his brother quickly, watching, as if in slow motion Regulus' hand reach into the lake for the water and another grey, white, gnarled hand shoot out, wrapping its bony fingers around Regulus forearm, pulling harshly. With a cry of outrage, Sirius dived forewords, wrapping his arms around his brothers chest and pulling back, digging his heels into the floor. "Kreacher!" He yelled, straining his muscles – where had the House-Elf gotten to?

He watched, mortified, as figures rose from the water, slowly coming towards them – their arms were to long for them and they didn't seem to have faces, they looked very much like they had just been made from clay and had not yet been set – they seemed to be melting, white gloop running down them like wax would from a candle.

"Kreacher! Kreacher!" He managed to pull Regulus free and he was pulling him back to the basin, horrified at what he was seeing. He yelled for Kreacher again, wondering what was taking him so long as he pulled Regulus behind him, away from the corpses.

They seemed to stop and take them in before they moved as one, almost like the speed of light.

The Inferi attacked.


	53. Fixing Him and the Perfect Moment

**Disclaimer: **_I do not own_

**Weight of the World**

**Chapter 53**

He was submerged in icy cold water, swirling around him, dragging him under – hands grabbed him and pulled him every which way till he didn't know which way was up. He managed to fight, breaking the surface and gasping the chilling air before he was dragged under again, kicking out at the Inferni that wanted him dead.

He fought bravely, refusing to be taken down easily, but he was getting tired and the world was getting bleary…Where was his brother? And where the Hell was Kreacher?

He felt cut off from the World as he was dragged further down into the abyss, further away from the surface, further away from life…

Suddenly, a hand was holding his, a fresh, clean, human hand enclosed around his and pulled him sharply, propelling them both to the surface. He breathed in the air sharply, automatically coughing when the fresh air hit his throat. An arm closed around his chest and pulled him onto dry land.

"Kreacher!" He called weakly, aware of the hand on his forehead and the rasping breath above him. A loud crack sounded to his left and he knew Kreacher was there.

He was aware of the blurred figures moving towards them, the water sliding off them easily as they crept closer.

"What are you waiting for? Hurry up, Kreacher, get us out of here!" The voice of his brother was frantic and loud to him and made him nervous…Was he okay? A small hand slipped into his and he felt pressure building inside him, as if he was being squeezed and elongated before his body hit the ground with a hard thump.

He groaned at the impact and tried to roll onto his side, but the arm around him was restricting his movements.

"Oh, my God, is he okay?" A new voice, a melodic voice that he'd heard a thousand times before…Hermione.

Behind him he could hear his brother speaking in an urgent tone but in that moment he was focused on the cold hand against his hot forehead. "I don't…What?" He asked, opening his eyes to slits to see Hermione hovering over him, concern evident in her brown eyes, but she wasn't looking at him.

She was looking at his brother.

"He got dragged under…I couldn't…Need help…Upstairs…" It came as a shocking blow to him when really it shouldn't – his brother was better at him then a lot of things and he certainly had gotten the good look genes from the Black family. It was stupid, really, to believe Hermione could ever look at him more than anything else…More then her boyfriend's brother.

"Okay, Sirius, it'll be okay…"

"I just got him back as a brother, Hermione, nothing can happen to him…" The voices zooned out then – he couldn't be bothered to make out the words anymore and he let his eyes drift shut again, darkness closing in around him.

LINE

Hermione sat on the crème sofa, her leg bouncing up and down as she became more agitated, waiting for Regulus and Sirius to come back with the Horcrux. As her thoughts strayed into territory she didn't want to go into (Are they okay? What if Kreacher took them to the wrong place?) she almost missed the loud crack that magnified around the echo-y room at the appearance of Kreacher.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, worry now seeping into her veins.

"Master Regulus told me to come back here he dids," Kreacher told her icily and Hermione practically felt her heart stop.

"Why? Why would he do that?" She asked the house-elf, but he didn't say anything – he gave her a look of slight hatred before moving through to the dining room and standing still in the corner, his hands behind his back. Hermione tried to think of how she could get to the Horcrux herself, but all her idea's turned to mush as her thoughts strayed to Sirius and Regulus and the danger that they were in impaired her of being able to come up with anything that would actually work let alone a plan that would get them out alive.

"I see that you heard of Regulus' fail safe?" Hermione whipped around, wand held high, pointing it at the intruder's chest.

"Severus?" She asked surprised, lowering her wand hesitantly.

"Hey." He shrugged, seemingly nervously and scratched the back of his neck.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"Regulus asked me to come – I didn't think you'd be here as well."

"Oh, well I'm sorry I seemed to ruin your plans." She spat, crossing her arms over her chest. She didn't mean to be hostile, but she really was worried for her boys.

Severus sighed and collapsed on the couch, picking up the remote and flicking through the channels absently, not really paying attention to what was happening on the screen. "No problem, Kingsley." Hermione wasn't listening to the words though – her eyes were focused instead on the exposed skin of his forearm.

"You joined them," she said sadly – she wasn't afraid of him, despite his allegiance – she knew that he was a member of the Order.

"I did a long time ago, Kingsley." He said, sadness creeping into his own voice. Hermione knew that this was never the life he intended to lead and that thought alone filled her with melancholy for the young wizard.

Hermione sat next to him, half aware of Kreacher in the corner and looked up at him, wondering exactly what it was that would turn Severus into the heartless Potions master that he would become. "So you know all about Regulus' plan to defeat Voldemort?" She asked him.

"Of course, Kingsley. Who did you think was the one who told him to seek you out after the Hogsmeade attack?" Severus said, his coal black eyes looking directly into Hermione's deep brown ones. "Regulus was the only one at Hogwarts who Voldemort deemed important enough to tell him where the Horcrux was you see – because of his family. It used to be Bellatrix who held the secret, but after she graduated, it became Regulus who—"

"Is a relative of Bellatrix…" Hermione finished off for him, tapping her fingers against the arms of the couch. "I just don't understand – why would Voldemort entrust his secret in students?"

Severus stared at her for a moment as he contemplated on how best to answer the question. "You see, Voldemort has a big ego – he firmly believes that no-one will turn against him, that once you join him that it's for life. And if you do betray him the punishment is so severe that no one would dare follow in their wake. That makes us, me, Regulus and Zabini, the best people to defeat him for the simple fact that he doesn't suspect it."

The wind outside became harsher and it shook the windows with the force of the gale as lightning lit up the sky so brightly it was almost blinding – Hermione mulled over what Severus had told her as the sky opened up and raindrops began falling. The whole atmosphere had changed and both realised that it wasn't nature that had caused this – it was dark magic.

Severus bowed his head and breathed out deeply as Hermione's eyes filled with unsuspected tears and her thoughts immediately rushed back to her boys, berating herself from having strayed from them in the first place.

_Please be safe…_she pleaded in her mind, letting her head fall to rest on the arm of the couch, _Please come back home to me…_

A hand settled on her shoulder, warm and inviting. "They will, Kingsley. They will." Hermione wondered briefly if he had read her thoughts or she had unknowingly said it out loud, but it didn't matter really – the answer wasn't going to bring Sirius and Regulus back any quicker.

"How exactly is Kreacher coming back here a fail safe? It's just more dangerous." She said, rubbing angrily at her face where a pesky tear had fallen, creating a perfect circle on the arm rest that was just a slightly darker colour then the original crème.

"Regulus cares for Kreacher, true. But he doesn't trust that he'll turn on Sirius. He doesn't want Kreacher betraying his brother. So he sent him back here and he's the only one who can call for him as well."

Hermione froze – she hated that Regulus didn't clue them in on these kinds of things and a horrible, gut wrenching thought entered her mind. "What if something happens to Regulus? How will Sirius get out?" Hermione asked frantically, her brain spinning thoughts and feelings around, to many for her to comprehend.

Severus cast his eyes downward and she could feel the regret pouring from him. "He wont."

The words were enough to almost shatter her heart and she suddenly found it difficult to breath, her ribcage seemingly crushing in on her. "How is that a failsafe?" Hermione demanded, directing her anger at the youngest Black brother.

Before Severus could answer, an extremely loud crack sounded around the room and Hermione jumped from the sound – Kreacher had been summoned, which meant that Regulus was okay…But what about Sirius?

Hermione stood and began to pace, needing to do _something_ to quell the fear and heartache as she mentally prepared herself for what was about to happen, be it good news or bad.

When another crack sounded throughout the room, Hermione dare not look, but she couldn't resist the pull of her head and she swivelled to look at the mass on the floor – Sirius holding Regulus against him, his arm wound around his younger brothers chest, both gasping and coughing. "Oh, my God, is he okay?" She asked, moving quickly to the side, ignoring Severus (who too, had stood at their arrival) and kneeled at their side, one hand going to Regulus forehead, alarmed by the heat and the other to Sirius' jaw, her eyes scanning his face but seeing no obvious injuries she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Does he look okay, Hermione?" The words were said urgently, but not cruelly and his grey eyes flickered to Severus and he growled low in his throat. "What's he doing here?" Hermione watched him tighten his arm around his brother's chest as Regulus' eyes flickered open and he groaned quietly.

"Regulus asked him to come here, Sirius – he's on our side, I swear. What happened?" She asked, not daring to look away from Sirius from fear that he would suddenly gain wounds and injuries if she dared blink.

"He got dragged under, Hermione – The Inferi just grabbed him and pulled him under, I couldn't get to him in time and he almost drowned…I need help to get him upstairs, Hermione he needs help." As he said it, he shifted Regulus even more securely against him.

"Okay, Sirius, it'll be okay…"

"I just got him back as a brother, Hermione; nothing can happen to him…" He closed his eyes shut and angrily wiped at them as Hermione smiled sadly at him, tears filling her eyes. If they lost Regulus, they'd loose a part of Sirius as well.

"That's why I'm here." Severus spoke up, opening his cloak and reaching in the inside pocket and extracted potions and ingredients and a cauldron and his wand.

"Oh good, you've brought your chemistry set!" Sirius snapped and Hermione shushed him, trying to calm him down.

"Do you really have to be so foolish, Black?" Severus said calmly, igniting some fire (the kind that could be scooped up in a jar that Hermione excelled at) and started measuring out ingredients – Hermione could tell that he was moving quickly but appreciated that he had to take it slow, less he mess it up.

"Come on, Sirius. Lets get him upstairs." Together, the two worked and easily moved him up the winding steps to the bedroom where Hermione had laid last time and set him on the bed. As soon as Sirius' arms were free, Hermione immediately launched herself at him with enough force to make him take a step back and she found herself engulfed in his hold as she squeezed him tightly, trying to give him strength as well as draw it from her. He held her as well and rubbed his face once in his hair and sighing, his breath making the tendrils of her hair move slightly.

"I love you, you know that, right?" Sirius asked by her ear and Hermione nodded, pressing her forehead against his solid chest.

"And I you, Sirius – Forever."

LINE

Severus sighed and put the final ingredient into the cauldron and berated Regulus for this potion – it had to be ingested within ten minutes of it being made which is why Severus had to wait fro Regulus to return here rather then make it before hand. He shook the container and watched it turn a deep vibrant red.

He quickly moved up the stairs and practically burst open the bedroom door, startling Hermione who looked nervous and was shaking slightly, her hand pressed to Sirius shoulder who was sat on the chair beside the bed, his head in his hands. He rounded the bed to the other side and quickly tipped it back, letting the contents slide down his throat. "It'll take a few minute—"

Regulus jolted awake, gasping and coughing and Severus saw Sirius relax in his chair at the sight.

"Wow…Took you long enough to wake up, Sleeping Beauty." Sirius grinned, but even Severus could see it was forced, despite his eyes swimming with relief.

"He'll be okay." Severus said, watching as Regulus shook his head and droplets went flying all over. He looked down at the front of his cloak and back up to Regulus, who was smiling sheepishly at him. "Unless he does that again."

Sirius smiled and blew one of his own wet locks away from his face. He reached inside his pocket and withdrew he locket, sending a suspicious look at Severus before throwing it onto the bed beside Regulus, who happily scooped it up.

"Right, okay, I'm gonna go to Morgan's and destroy this nasty son of a bit-"

"Morgan's? What?" Sirius asked, standing from his seat and glaring at the two Slytherin's. "What does he have to do with this?"

"He's a part of this little gang, Black." Severus snapped at Sirius who sent a glare so full of hate that Severus almost took a step back. Almost.

"And I was failed to be told this why?" He asked, looking at Hermione. Hermione smiled sadly and stood on her tiptoes, pressing a chaste kiss to his lips and Severus looked away from the PDA, not in the mood to watch their soppy love.

"Sirius, Morgan's your friend. We didn't want you to hate him." She said softly and Severus tried really hard not to scoff, but he didn't succeed.

Sirius sent him a death glare. "I'd never hate him, Hermione. I couldn't, but it's just a bit of a shock, you know?"

"I know." She said comfortingly and Severus felt a pang in his chest. No matter how much he hated Black he respected that he had a woman who loved with everything inside her like he knew that Hermione loved Sirius. He'd seen their relationship progress from friends to being in love and he wanted that.

He wanted to go home to a place where he was loved, who had bright green eyes and long red hair - he suddenly had a vision of kids running around and his wife there for him through it all – but he had nobody.

LINE

Hermione happily pushed opened the front door, pleased to see the walls that she now called home. She closed the door behind her quietly, thinking that a bath was what she needed right now. It would help her wash away the horror and the fear of the day. Thankfully, the potion given to Regulus pretty much helped him and before Sirius could get a word in edgeways, Regulus departed with Kreacher in tow explaining that he needed to get the latest Basilisk fang from Morgan and Hermione and Sirius had collapsed on the crème sofa as she finally told him the story of what had happened at Malfoy Manor – but she left out that Morgan had inflicted the pain on her and instead told him that he was just there.

Even now, she could still feel the pain of the curse and she moved swiftly up the stairs, gripping the banister in her hand as she made her way to the bathroom, the thought of a nice, long bubble bath heaven at the moment.

She ran the water and added the smelling bath salts, taking a moment to inhale the Jasmine fragrance as she gingerly lowered herself in the water, trying to block out the constricting feelings of uncontrollable fear as her eyes drifted shut, her muscles becoming looser as the warm water soothed them.

She hated not telling Sirius that it was Morgan as well as Bellatrix that had harmed her, but she couldn't do it – that knowledge would just send Sirius to go after him and she didn't want that for Morgan, who even though she was never friends with, she could recognise that he was a good person.

With a sigh, she washed herself down quickly, suddenly feeling dirty as her mind automatically went to the events of that night, of Morgan's voice roaring in her ears, her muscles contrasting painfully under the curse as Bellatrix laughed in the background and she suddenly felt as if she was suffocating and she snapped her eyes open to see that she was under the water of the bathtub and she jolted up quickly, the water lapping heavily around her heaving body as she sent droplets all over the sides and water sloshed over the lip of the tub as she coughed harshly, droplets of water making her eyelashes spiky and heavy as she pushed her hair from her face.

Having no idea what had happened but needing to get out of the bath this very second she struggled to find a hold and hoisted herself out, wrapping the fluffy towel around her body and moved quickly to her room, taking a moment to take in the large bookcase on the left hand side wall and quickly lit the fireplace on the right wall and the flames jumped to life. It was nice, this house, but to big for just her. She couldn't wait for Lily to move in soon – and Aaylah, who Lily was looking after for a while at Hermione's request.

After she was warm and dry and dressed in her Pj's, she came to the conclusion that during her flashback, she had slid under the water unknowing to her as her body entered a comatose state for a few minutes – she hadn't been under long, the water was still hot when she came back to her senses. Well, that's what she was telling herself anyway.

She strode to the mahogany bookshelf and took a large Muggle Volume from the shelf, smiling as the front cover of Pride and Prejudice came to her view. Perfect.

Twenty minutes later and Hermione found herself getting restless, the days events just to much to handle and she found herself reading the same paragraph over and over and over again. She sighed in agitation and slammed the book shut, realising that distractions at this point were futile. Putting the book on her side table, she crawled under the silver sheets and tried in vain to get to sleep but every time she closed her eyes she was assaulted with images of Bellatrix, Inferi, Sirius and Regulus on the floor, coughing and retching, of Hailey's dead body, of Lily's shattered innocence – it was too much. This was too much.

She opened her eyes in time to see a silver shape fly in through the solid glass window pane and she stiffened in alarm, her hand flying to her wand hidden under her pillow until she realised that it was a Patronus – Sirius' Patronus. She smiled in relief as it padded softly across the room towards her, nuzzling her foot with its nose before Sirius voice came from it, echoing in the otherwise empty room – "I'm outside. Let me in."

She didn't hesitate – she quickly jumped from her bed and ran down the stairs, whipping her body around the banister and practically launching herself at the front door, opening it wide, Sirius' Patronus in her wake. She could see him, standing just outside the protective wards and she made them collapse, just for a moment for Sirius to get past them before she brought them back up again, her brown eyes watching the blue tinge travel through the air, engulfing her house making it invisible to anyone who bears the Dark Mark.

Sirius reached her in record time and his arms reached out, touching her, holding her as he brought her closer to him, pressing his body to hers, pushing her through the front door as the Patronus barked happily and evaporated into the air and, for the second time, Sirius kicked the door closed with his foot, his hands cupping Hermione's jaw and tilting her head back as he stroked her lips with his own, drawing out a soft moan.

He broke the kiss and laid his forehead against hers, his grey eyes moving restlessly as they moved across her face, as if trying to take her all in. "I can't take another night without you by me, Hermione." He said hoarsely and he kissed her lips again, one hand moving down her body to her waist, pulling her close.

"We…Sirius, we have to get used to it." She told him between kisses, linking her arms around his shoulders, using him as leverage to stand higher on her toes and lean further into him – he took her weight without complaint.

"Why?" He asked, nuzzling his nose against her jaw and pressing kisses around the shell of her ear.

"Because," she gasped, lacing her hand through his black, silky hair. "It doesn't feel right."

"We've lived together before. A whole year." He whispered, "we spent most of it on the couch. Together."

"Lily's moving in, Sirius. You have to move in with James." He whined low in his throat, but seemed to let it go, his kisses along her throat turning into little nips with his teeth, just enough to give her body a reaction as goose-bumps appeared all over her skin, but not enough to actually hurt her. She gasped loudly and Sirius wound his arm under her knees and her back, lifting her up bridal style. She secured her hands around his neck, kissing all up and down his jaw until he got to her room and closed the door with his foot (she hoped he wasn't leaving boot prints on the wood) and lowered her gently to the bed, as if she were made of crystal, and gently covered her body with his own.

Their lips met again with a clash of teeth and tongues as they elicited moans from one another, and Sirius moved his body across hers, the chill from the wind settled in his clothes and caused her to shiver with both anticipation and nerves as well.

"Hermione," he said almost brokenly, sucking on her pulse point and she arched off the bed, tightening her grip on his hair. This was what they both needed, to gain release and this was the perfect way to do it – they were both so ready and so in need that it was almost painful. She loved him, so much and it was time that she showed him.

She slid her hands down the front of his black T-shirt that was pulled taunt across his chest and she tucked them under the fabric, till her hands met his skin and his muscles bunched and jumped under his skin as she smiled. He lifted his head and looked directly into her eyes as she slowly, oh so slowly, lifted the garment from him.

"Are you sure?" He gasped, his hand once again going to her jaw, cupping her face in his large hand.

"Definitely." She nodded and Sirius almost whimpered as she lifted the T-shirt clear off his body and tossed it to the floor by the roaring fire. She looked at his torso and frowned as she saw the scars that lingered upon his chest and ran her hands hesitantly over them.

"Don't think." He breathed, his own hands moving to the soft skin of her back, rubbing in soothing circles, "just act, love."

And she did. She let her brain shut down as she and Sirius lazily stripped each other until they lay bare before the other, their eyes interlocked the whole time – Hermione could honestly say that in her life she had never felt as amazing as this before in her life as he lavished praise on her body, kissing every inch of her before he settled between her thighs, hiking one leg around his hip as he pressed kisses to her collarbone, his breath creating goose bumps upon her skin.

"Hermione, sweetheart, are you 100% sure?" He asked and Hermione's eyes rolled back into her head as he shifted his hips and she nodded weakly, trembling from the anticipation. "Definitely?"

Hermione practically growled as she arched her back, pressing herself into him more and he nipped at her skin, marking her, almost possessively. "Yes! Sirius, please –" before she could say anything else, a stitch of pain penetrated her lust bubble and she felt her eyes water…It wasn't extremely painful, but it was irritating and she felt…Well, she felt wrong.

"Shh…" She heard Sirius murmur against her skin, his lips moving against her neck as he cupped the other side of her face with his hand, moving his thumb in slow, soothing circles. "It'll be alright, Hermione…I'll make it good for you. Only you." And he did. As he said broken verses of love and devotion in her ear he took her to dizzying heights again and again and again, the sheets cold against her back, the taste of his lips permanently on her tongue, the crackling noise from the fire a comforting sound and being with Sirius like this felt perfect.

Afterwards, when both were spent and gasping for breath, they held each other tightly and Hermione kissed his chest as he brushed her sweaty hair from her face – she had never felt so loved and cherished as she did in that moment, when Sirius swooped down and kissed her lips she felt absolutely perfect, and she vowed to make him feel the same. Everything that he did to her, she would do to him, because he deserved it and she loved him more then she thought was capable of loving someone and she knew, without a doubt that she would forever love him.


	54. Victory, A Wedding and a Disaster

**Disclaimer: **_I do not own any aspect of this story recognizable to the reader, besides the plot._

**Weight of the World**

**Chapter 54**

Lily moved in. It was chaotic and hectic with Lily shouting commands to James, Hermione and Sirius, standing there in the centre of the living room, arms crossed as she ran a critical eye over the furnishings. As the two boys trudges upstairs with a huge ottoman (they weren't allowed to use magic as Lily demanded that they respect her Muggle heritage), Lily seemed to snap out of 'crazy-OCD-woman' and went back to 'kind, caring Lily.' It was odd, Hermione summarised as they moved into the kitchen sipping on tea, that she could transform so quickly, flitter between the two personalities she seemed to have. Maybe being with James for so long had scrambled her brain.

"Can you believe that Rayne is getting married in a few days? It's so weird!" Lily said, shaking her head as she tipped her head back, shaking her hair from the sides of her face, looking curiously at the ceiling, and Hermione resisted the temptation to look up as well.

"Yeah, it's a busy week for us, I suppose. You're moving in, Rayne's getting married, the Quidditch World cups tomo-,"

"Did somebody say Quidditch World Cup?" James yelled down the stairs, and Lily rolled her eyes.

"Yes, James. Now carry on unloading!" She yelled back up and turned to smile sweetly at Hermione. She could honestly say that she felt just the tiniest bit sorry for James.

* * *

Sirius kept a tight grip around Hermione's shoulders as they fell into the swarm of Quidditch supporters, making their way steadily towards the golden stadium, gleaming brightly in the mid-morning sun. As he was about six foot two, he had a good view of what was around them and all he could see for a while out was white and red. England were playing their first match in the Quidditch World cup against Germany, and Sirius had been trying to get Hermione to tell him who won so that he could make a bet on it, but Hermione just shrugged, saying that she didn't know and didn't care much for Quidditch, but would come to this game just to appease Meg, and nothing more. He decided that was insane the moment that the words "Don't like" and "Quidditch" were said in the same sentence, spilled from her beautiful lips.

"Hermione, love, are you sure you won't tell me?" He asked a final time, looking down at the top of her curly brown hair as her fingers entangled in the material of his red, button down shirt and shook her head, pressing her cheek to his chest. He knew that she hated big crowds such as this and he tightened his grip on her in support and comfort, dropping a kiss to her crazy curls before they were pushed foreword again, and Sirius went back to looking for his friends.

They were fairly difficult to spot, he summarized once he did see them, because like him and Hermione and everybody else here today, they had dressed in white and red and Meg had that silly hat that he'd bought her for Christmas on top of her brown hair and written across her cheeks in red ink was _Adrian: Call me! 886 743! _Sirius rolled his eye at his half-blood friend and told her that Adrian Hypendrion, the star chaser for England, probably had no idea what a phone was and, if he did, he most likely didn't have one. Megara had glared at his so hard that Sirius would swear that if looks could kill, he'd be six foot under.

"Come on, let's move!" Kara had to yell over the hustle and bustle of the supporters and Sirius tightened his grip on Hermione, ready to go back into the stream of people, who would surely spilt them up if they didn't hold onto each other. He was thankful that James and co. had found a little nook to hide in, beneath the trees, and he had half-hoped that they'd get to stay there for a while because while he didn't mind so much about the people, Hermione despised it.

They made their way through the crowd, Sirius and Remus acting as the 'spotters' as Lily had so happily called them as they were the tallest – Sirius hated that Remus was taller then him, he was 6ft 4 and still growing, while Sirius had stopped growing at 6ft 2…Well, maybe he'll shoot up another inch, but that was about it – he didn't have the genes in his family, whereas Remus' dad was about 7ft 1. They got to the podium and Megara handed the tickets over, smiling cheerily at the pimple-faced teen, who counted out the ten tickets with a bored look on his face, flicked his eyes to the group pressed against his window (his eyes lingered on Hermione and Sirius growled protectively under his breath) and tore off the silver strip at the end, handing them back to Meg. "Enjoy!" He yelled and waved them away, the golden gates before them shimmering and Meg skipped through the golden bars happily, almost squealing in excitement as the others followed, grins on their faces as they set to watch the Quidditch World Cup and England win. Hopefully.

Together, all ten of them climbed the purple carpeted stairs, following Megara, trusting her to know were they were actually going. They chattered amongst themselves, Sirius loosening his grip as they aware from people pushing and shoving, but let his arm hang over Hermione's shoulder and her hand had crept up and linked their fingers as his wrist dangled off her collarbone and he pushed his free hand into his pocket of his black jeans up to the first knuckle. His relationship with Hermione, while it was strong before, had increased tenfold since they spent the night together and he needed to be near her or he felt incomplete and lonely. Most times, he'd lie awake in his bed, staring at the ceiling, his mind set solely on her and her alone and the feel of her skin under his hands and her lips against his and he ached for her, physically and mentally. It was ridiculous really, how much he needed her and his idea of love had changed dramatically since Hermione popped up into his life.

Meg led them through a red door and Sirius gasped when he saw the view – he could see the whole stadium and they were directly between the two goalposts, just over them so that they could see everything that happened – Sirius knew that he was going to really enjoy this. They took their seats, Sirius between Hermione and Rayne and waited with baited breath for the game to begin, but knew that there was the chants and acts to go first and Sirius briefly wondered what England would be bringing as their mascot.

"Oh, this is amazing!" Rayne shouted and Sirius couldn't agree more – the butterflies of excitement and nerves were settling into his stomach and he placed his hand on Hermione's thigh as he leaned foreword, letting his gaze land on the green grassed floor of the golden, gleaming stadium, wishing that he was on a broomstick for the team, swooping and swerving as thousands screamed his name, worshipping him, adoring him…

…But he was brought back to reality with a snap as he heard Hermione scream and he whipped his head to look at her, his hands reaching for her automatically, concern evident in his grey gaze until he realised that she was looking up, face unusually white and mouth open in shock and he realised that she wasn't the only one to have screamed, hers was just the only one that he'd registered. He brought his head quickly to see that a giant shadow was looming before the sun, wings spread wide and snout pointed up towards the sky, hovering there for a moment and Sirius took in the sun hitting it's body, making it gleam golden-green before it swooped down dramatically, circling the stadium once before diving in and heading for the German stands, breathing fire at them that was red and white and burned all their _Support Germany! _Signs, reducing them to cinders and James laughed and cheered as Remus and Peter both wolf-whistled as Hermione made a noise of pure annoyance and crossed her arms over her chest in disapproval that Sirius had to laugh at her, squeezing her thigh once and thinking of how much Hagrid would love to be here.

"Come on, love, cheer up!" He yelled over the cheers of England supporters and Hermione rolled her eyes.

"You're joking, right? Do you realise how irresponsible bringing a dragon here is? What if it snaps because of the loud noises and attacks people? What if—" Her top lip fell between both of his and his let his tongue stroke it softly, winding one arm around her waist and the other one raking through her soft brown curls, bringing her closer, closer, _closer…_

"Oi! Mate, put Hermione down! Look what the German's brought!" James yelled, tugging on his shoulder and Sirius regretfully broke the kiss to look out onto the pitch to see five naked women made entirely of water.

"Water nymphs?" Sirius asked incredulously, looking down the row of seats to James, who shrugged and pointed back to the pitch. Hermione and Sirius looked at each other again before looking wearily back to the pitch in time to see the five women merge together, water swirling around them as they grew taller and stronger, until it was one woman who was as tall as the goal posts at either end of the pitch, hair moving about it's head as if she were underwater, water sliding off her like condensation slides off the side of the glass and she looked up at the England supporters, sadness in her eyes and it looked like tears were falling out of them as she moved slowly towards them. Sirius was transfixed, she was eerily beautiful and hypnotic to look at. She opened her mouth, seemingly to try to speak but as she was made of water, no sounds passed her lips. She clutched at her throat desperately before she fell, transforming into water droplets that reflected the sin and created little, tiny rainbows everywhere and they fell to the floor like raindrops were they collaborated again and swirled together, making the five woman again from earlier and they went to sit at the sidelines.

"Well…That was a way to depress us, don't you think?" Meg asked, leaning foreword in her seat, running her eyes critically over the women.

"It's a tactic, I think. Depress us to stop us showing spirit." Thoma said, scratching the back of her head, "It's kind of worked as well."

"And welcome to the Quidditch World Cup!" A voice boomed out around the stadium and cheers echoed around them – the excitement had settled in Sirius' stomach again and he found in himself to cheer along with everybody else. "Today's match – England V. Germany!" The commentator stopped to let the cheers and wolf-whistles take over and Sirius' ears were ringing afterwards. "Let's welcome the players! For the England team we have: Morris, Hypendrion, Wilson, Rogers, Clyde, Irvin and…Grant!" The seven players flew onto the pitch so fast that all Sirius could actually see were blurs of red and white and all he could hear were cheers and screams and wolf-whistles and Megara yelling her number frantically at the star chaser, who was doing a lap around the stadium and was so fast that when he flew by, they could hear the 'whoosh' of his broom. "Now for the German team! Amsel, Kalb, Hertz, Fuhrmann, Eichel, Braun and…Decker!"

This time, Sirius could only hear boo's as the Germans flew onto the pitch, not as fast as the English, but still fast and Sirius was caught up in the moment, booing along with everyone else, making his feelings known to the Germans who didn't seem at all fazed and they hovered over their side of the pitch opposite the English.

"Greg Trant from America is our referee!" Sirius watched the short, round shouldered man fly onto the pitch and place the box on the ground, sternly talking to Amsel and Rogers, the two captains before they shook hands and flew back to their teams. "The referee has kicked the box and the Bludgers and Snitch has been set free!" Sirius swallowed his excitement and leaned foreword against the bar before them, trying to catch a glint of gold, but seeing as the whole stadium was gold, he was finding it difficult. "Trant has the Quaffle, he holds it above his head…The game begins!"

* * *

"That was amazing!" James said excitedly from behind him as Sirius, Hermione, Lily and James made their way to Hermione and Lily's home, chatting about the game. Megara had sobbed with happiness at England's win and Sirius and Hermione (as well as James and Lily) had been so overwhelmed at England's success that yes, they did indulge in an all-mighty kiss, but it was to be expected. "The way that Hypendrion flipped upside at the last minute to avoid that Bludger and let go with his legs, hanging on with one hand to score the final ten points that put England higher and let Grant catch the Snitch to win! Oh, I want to relieve it!" James jumped up and down on the spot, pulling Lily along with him as she laughed merrily, holding up the Omnioculars to James' eyeline.

"It's a good thing that I recorded it on here then, huh?" She asked coyly, smiling brightly when James let out a squeal of happiness and picked her up around the waist, spinning Lily in circles.

"Okay, you two, enough. Hold onto Lily, James, we're gonna apparate you." Hermione said, turning her body into Sirius' and winding her arms around his waist, pulling his closer. He revelled in her being so close to him, but before he could really begin to enjoy it, he felt like he was being sucked through a pipe, squeezed through the plumbing before he breathed a sigh of relief at the huge house he was now stood in front of, clocking Hermione's bedroom window instantly.

"I don't get why we can't just apparate ourselves." James said, rubbing his side as if he had a phantom pain there and Sirius raised his eyebrows at him, about to call him a baby or a wimp, but Hermione's voice got in the way.

"Because of the wards James."

"Can't you add us to the wards?" James asked, pouting like a child and Hermione laughed, taking her keys out of her jeans pocket and flicking through them, trying to find the front door key.

"No. Because if I add you to the wards, I add you're whole family as well, your genes are their genes, after all. No offence, but all pure-blood families are related somehow." Which was another good reason why Sirius had been disgusted at the thought of arranged marriage.

"Fair point." James said, tugging Lily closer as all four traipsed into the giant house. They instantly split up, Lily and James heading for the gleaming kitchen while Sirius eagerly pulled Hermione up the winding staircase. He'd been itching to be alone with her most of the day.

He got to Hermione's bedroom door and pushed it open, pulling her gently behind with him, instantly latching his lips onto hers, sucking them harshly as his hands roamed her body, untucking her Quidditch England Shirt from the back of her pale blue jeans and he slid his hands slowly down the back of them, moaning into her mouth at the feel of her satin skin.

"Wow…" Hermione said as the kiss was broken and she moved her mouth to his neck, pressing kisses against his pulse point that made him shiver as her hands went to the buttons on his shirt. "Men really only do think about one thing," she gasped as her tongue slithered out to exposed skin behind his ear and he pushed up with his hands, urging her to jump up, which she did without hesitation, wrapping her legs around his lean waist.

"Witch." He growled, needing to kiss her, to feel her lips, but unable to reach them he settled with copying her movements and attacked her ear with his lips and tongue and teeth, biting gently on her lobe. "You were thinking about it to."

"Besides the point." She unwound her legs and dropped to the floor, moving away from Sirius and urging him to follow her to the bed where she kneeled on it. He sat beside her and reached for her, but she moved away. "Off." She pointed to his shirt and in literally two seconds, the shirt was a heap on the floor along with his jeans, leaving him in his white undershirt and his boxers.

"Like what you see?" He asked as he slowly pulled the material off his body, exposing his toned torso and he watched as Hermione's eyes turned hot with list.

"Definitely." She said, reaching for him and he wasted no time in gathering her to his chest, feeding her hot, needing kisses as he stripped her bare and he didn't hesitate in connecting them, making them one.

Yes, it was no secret he'd had sex before Hermione but he could honestly say that it had never felt as God damn _perfect_ as it did with her. Never. He loved her, wanted to be with her, needed to be with her. As he propelled them to release, listening to the breathy moans and gasps coming from her as he tried to control his impending release, he kept his grey eyes on her, only on her, always on her. She was his and he was hers, and that was enough for him. Just her, by his side was more then enough.

* * *

When Sirius woke up the next morning, it was to Hermione sitting cross-legged on the bed beside him, wearing nothing but her underwear and his red-button down shirt, exposing her long, tanned legs to his hungry eyes.

"What time is it?" He asked groggily and her head came up with a start, her hand clutching her chest.

"About 6am. Merlin, Sirius, you scared me."

"Voldemort doesn't faze you, but me asking you a question makes you jump out of your skin?" He asked, grinning as he sat up, running his hand through his hair as the sheets pooled at his waist. "Why are you awake? Are you okay?" He asked and she nodded, her tousled curls bouncing down her back.

"You do realise what today is, right?" She asked, raising her eyebrow at him and his mind wound backwards, trying to think of something important that was happening today, bit his mind came up empty.

"Err…No." He said, "It isn't another Horcrux hunt, is it?" He asked wearily.

Hermione laughed, throwing her head back and letting out a sound that was very pleasing to his oversensitive hearing. "No. It's Rayne's wedding, you idiot." She slapped him playfully across the arm and he growled back, wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her backwards and pushing her, so that she was pinned to the bed underneath his body weight.

"Oh really?" He breathed against her skin as he bunched the material of her shirt in his hands, "would an idiot know how to do this?" And he trailed down her body, pressing kisses and small nips to her exposed skin before reaching his destination, moving her underwear aside and kissing her, expertly drawing out the whimpers and moans, bringing her to the brink and then leaving her, kissing down her smooth legs and her feet, before going back for more of her sweet taste. He could spend his whole life listening to her sounds of pleasure, and he would be sure to do so, he thought as she let go, shuddering in the aftershock and he stayed with her till the last shiver died down, letting her breath before he connected them again. He could get used to this every single morning.

* * *

When Rayne stepped from behind the divider, it was to gasps of how beautiful she looked and how Xenophilius was an extremely lucky man. Rayne grinned at her friends and family and turned to look in the mirror, running a critical gaze over her reflection. Her wayward blonde hair had been pulled up loosely and pinned with diamond pins, reflecting the overhead light and creating tiny prisms along the wall. Her dress was floor length and strapless, clinging tightly, but not to tightly. Her veil settled just on the top of her head and her mother stepped up behind her, a replica of her and gently lifted the veil up and over her head, obscuring her face from sight.

"Keep him waiting, my love," her mother whispered and hugged her tightly, a tear in the corner of her eye.

"It's time to go, baby girl." Rayne looked from her mother to her father, who was standing stonily beside the door – he never approved of Rayne getting married, but it was her duty to keep the pure-blood line going, despite her aversion to prejudice.

"Kara will go down the aisle first, then Megara, then your father and you. I love you." With a kiss on her cheek and a wave, her mother disappeared through the door to take her seat at the front.

Kara winked at Rayne as she breezed past in her pale pink dress and stepped through the door, heading to the aisle with Megara following. Rayne felt butterflies practically explode in her stomach, she was shaking and she felt physically sick.

"You getting cold feet?" Her father asked her, offering his arm.

"No." Rayne lied, placing her hand delicately on his arm, feeling the rough texture of the black robes her father was wearing, "just a bit nervous, that's all."

The music could be heard from the other side of the door and Rayne tightened her hold on her fathers arm, ignoring his chuckle as she tried to stop the tremors working through her body – she didn't know why she was so scared, this had to be done, he could leave her at the alter or run away, they had a binding contract. Contract…Like it was some business deal or something, this was her heart that was being signed away. She sighed as she gathered her flowers and tucked them to her chest – she would learn to love him, as her mother told her, but that didn't make it any easier to do this. She had gotten to know him over the past few months, she'd met him, been on dates, even kissed him, but this…This was such a huge leap and she was just so young…

"Time to go, princess."

"Already? Dad, I don't –" She stopped mid sentence and hung her head, sighing before gathering her courage holding her head up, proud, strong, relentless. "Okay. Let's go."

Her father opened the door after a moment's hesitation and led her to the very top of the red carpet of the aisle. They stopped for a second, waiting for the melody to reach its crescendo and Rayne cast her eyes out at the lines of white, dining chairs in long rows on either side of the carpet with her family and friends on one side, and Xenophilius' on the other. Golden balloons and streamers lined the aisle and when she looked up, there was a glittery overhead above them, reminding Rayne of stars.

It was time. She took a final deep breath and stepped onto the carpet. Everybody swivelled around in their seats to get a good look at the bride, and she felt like she was on display. She looked to the very front of the aisle and saw Xenophilius, standing tall and proud, muscular and lean, his blonde hair styled perfectly and his robes a dashing dark blue colour – the colour of his Hogwarts house. She could see Sirius and Hermione whispering to each other and Thoma winked at her as she went past, Summer and her sisters were all in a line and she had no idea which one was which, Peter and Remus were smiling brightly at her and she knew that her friends would support her as Lily blew her a kiss and James copied her movements, but much more exaggerated and cheesy. Rayne's ice-blue eyes met Xenophilius' when she reached him and her father let her go, and she could see the unease in his dark blue orbs as well – she wasn't the only one who felt uncomfortable about this.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to join this witch and this wizard in Holy Matrimony…" The words of the minister fazed out to Rayne as she saw her future flash before her eyes, one where her and Xenophilius had a house with a picket fence and 2.5 kids with a dog that chased after the owls if they swept to low with their mail…But what she also saw was them going to sleep every night in different rooms, empty words of love and affection to appease the children and an empty home for when he was working overtime at the Quibbler and the kids were asleep.

She would never have the perfect romance that Sirius and Hermione had, never have the cute little touches and the looks that told everyone in a ten mile radius exactly what they felt for each other. She had been so excited for this wedding, but she didn't love him. Yes, she cared for him, fancied him, would definitely date him (as she had) but marry him after barely a year? That just didn't sit tight with her.

"Do you, Rayne Crystal Humes take this man, Xenophilius Lovegood to be your husband?" Rayne was snapped back to reality at the Minister asked her the all important question and she was ashamed that she hesitated. She looked into Xenophilius' eyes and took in the fear there – that she would run away from him. She looked over at her family and her friends, all of whom were staring at her with slight horror on their faces. What would happen if she said no?

She could never get married ever and she'll be exiled from her family. She looked Xenophilius in the eyes again and she, with as much conviction as she could: "Yes." A wave of relief swept over everyone it seems and Xenophilius smiled so brightly at her that she had to smile back.

"Then I now pronounce you husband and wife. Hold hands please." They clasped hands tightly and the wizard waved his wand overt their hands, golden sparks and a thread of golden ribbon winding around their hands, clasping them together tightly. "You may now kiss the bride." Xenophilius smiled sheepishly and lifted her veil, placing a chaste kiss on her lips. She knew that Xenophilius would treat her right, but being treated right, and being in love were two totally different things.

"Aw…Isn't this touching?" Rayne whipped her head around at the voice and saw Bellatrix Black walking up the aisle, her heavy-lidded eyes fixated on the two at the front and people started screaming, running around, trying to get away. "It's so good to see others so happy – I can watch them crash and burn!" Other Death Eaters appeared out of no-where and screams were all that Rayne could hear as people pushed past them, tried to get away – it was mind-numbing that Bellatrix even knew where they were, but before Rayne could question it, Xenophilius had her hands and was pulling her away, far away, away from her friends and family, leaving them.

"Xen, let me go! We can't leave them!" She shouted over the noise, trying to go back, digging her heels into the dirt.

"HERMIONE!" She heard Sirius yell over the commotion and she turned her head to look, to catch a glimpse, trying to fight Xenophilius' hold. "HERMIONE!" She watched as Hermione ran to him, her midnight blue dress ripped and Sirius instantly pulled her behind him, as she gripped his waist tight, scoping the ground before them.

"Well, if it isn't the happy couple!" Someone spat and Rayne saw fluffy blonde hair and hollow brown eyes before a wand was pointed directly at her.

"Touch one hair on her head, so help me Merlin I'll—"

"CORBIN!" Rayne turned at the inhuman yell and was surprised to see Quinton charging towards them, anger written all over his face. "Expelliarmus!" He yelled and Corbin's wand flew out of his hand and Xenophilius caught it was ease. "You murdering Basta—!"

"Quinton!" The smooth voice of Dumbledore interjected and Rayne watched as the old man walked towards them, unnerved by the explosions and wand fights around them (she saw James take down one particularly bulky looking Death Eater with his fists). "There won't be any of that, today." He said calmly and Matt Corbin laughed, loudly and very high-pitched, it was almost painful to listen to.

"Oh…This is just great! Albus Dumbledore is stood in the middle of this fight and NO-ONE IS POINTING A WAND AT HIM!" He yelled so loudly that Rayne jumped and her hand flew to the back of Xenophilius' robes, seeking comfort.

Instantly, three Death Eaters pointed their wands excitedly in his direction, but Dumbledore simply held up a hand and the jets of light reflected, pointing in different directions as beside him, Quinton shook with rage.

"Xenophilius, I think that you and Miss Humes – or Mrs. Lovegood, I believe should get out of here." Just as Xenophilius nodded his agreement, Rayne's attention shifted to the main entrance of the wedding, which was a shambles now, at the sound of Megara's terrifying scream. There, stood majestically, was the epitome of evil himself.

Voldemort.

_A/N: Okay, I'm extremely late, no reason just an awful case of writers block, a week long event here that took most of my time (it was a fair – I am now skint from going on all the rides), college and my birthday! So, as a birthday present, please don't be mad at me for the extremely long update…Please…_

_Hope you like it! Yes, Drama in doses! But, I can honestly say that I am actually very nearly finished with this story, only a few more chapters I think! Then again, knowing me I'll probably drag it out somewhat :/_

_Anyways, enjoy!_

_Kelly_

_xxx_


	55. So close to that perfect family

****

**Disclaimer: **_Do not own…_

**Weight of the World **

**Chapter 55**

Screams rent through the air at the appearance of the Dark Wizard and Hermione stopped in her tracks – through out all her years of fighting him, she had never actually seen him in person. She knew what he looked like as she heard Harry's description and she could piece his appearance together, but seeing him in person stopped her dead in her tracks as she watched him sway up the aisle, his long, spidery fingertips pressed together as he gazed upon everyone at the wedding. He was grotesque – he looked like a walking skeleton, but he was absolutely terrifying.

Suddenly, Sirius appeared at her side and grasped her face between his hands, dragging her eyes away from Voldemort, who was chuckling as Bellatrix sliced her wand and a wizard fell at her hands.

"Hermione, you need to get out of here!" He had to shout over the chaos to be heard and Hermione shook her head frantically, tightening her grip on her wand.

"We can't leave them all, Sirius." She argued and tried to break free from his grasp, but he held on tight.

"I won't leave them, Hermione, but you can't stay here, love. You're number one on their list and probably the reason that they're here. I don't wanna scare you, or make you feel guilty and I'm not telling you that I don't think you're not capable but you need to get to safety." He said the words with such desperation and love for her that she almost agreed to it, that she almost turned her back on the carnage and left – but she couldn't.

"I'm sorry, but I can't." She ripped herself from his grasp and ran, her light purple dress swaying around her ankles as she joined a fight against a female death Eater with bright yellow hair and a distinct cackle.

Sirius stood there, dumb-founded as he watched Hermione join a fight and he couldn't help the feeling of anger towards her – she was risking her life for what? Honour? Pride? He was about to go after her, make her see reason when somebody slammed into him and rugby tackled him to the ground, knocking his wand out of his wand and he saw it roll under the white garden chairs.

He looked at who had tackled him and almost growled when he looked into the slightly mad eyes of Rodopholus LeStrange and he didn't think – he just reacted. His fist swung foreword and smashed LeStrange on the jaw. Hard. He pushed the Death Eater off, not in the mood really when he heard a female scream. The need in him to protect anything female reared it's head and he looked up (whilst delivering a swift kick to LeStrange's abdomen) and saw Lily at the end f Voldemort's wand. He ran. He didn't think, he just ran, throwing chairs away as he sought his wand and he grasped it in his hands, that he was aware were sweating and clambered to his feet.

Before he could get any closer to save her, a jet of yellow light struck Voldemort in the back, between his bony shoulder blades and he staggered foreword a step from the force, but didn't fall or drop his wand. He blinked in slight surprise and turned his head to the side, slowly, threatening, like a lion stalking it's prey and he set his cold eyes on James, who stood strong and tall, his wand held in front of him in a battle stance.

He was ready to fight.

Voldemort chuckled and directed his wand to point at James and Sirius felt his blood turn to ice. Why was it always his friends that Voldemort chose to threaten, why his loved ones? He hurried foreword and held onto Lily, pushing her behind him and stopping her from running to James, and he saw James' look of appreciation. As much as he wanted to save his best friend, loosing Lily would kill him anyway.

"Sirius, move, we need to help him, we have to!" She shouted and Sirius felt sorry for her, and he understood her need – he felt it to, deep down in his gut, he felt the need to get his friends to safety. He quickly scanned the chaos and looked for his friends – Kara and Summer were both throwing spells at an unknown Death Eaters whose hood was still up; Peter was fighting gallantly, blood dripping from his lip and a bruise blossoming on his cheek; Remus was having a fist-fight with, ironically enough, Greyback the werewolf, the one to have turned him all those years ago; Rayne was no-where to be seen and neither was Xenophilius, which he took as a good sign and that they'd both escaped before the horror; Thoma was knocked out cold and he had to restrain himself to run to the crazy girl; Megara was to his left, fighting impressively, her hair which had been so neat was now a mess about her head and Hermione, his Hermione, had moved on from the Death Eater of before (who lay unconscious) and had now moved on to help Peter, her dress ripped, cuts on her face and arms.

"You dare to attack me?" Voldemort's voice rang through his head and his attention was focussed to Voldemort and his best friend, wands directed at each other's chests, trying to glare the other down. James was truly a Gryffindor, Sirius thought as he didn't waver at Voldemort's gaze. "Avada –!" He half yelled and Sirius was halfway through running without knowing it, Lily right behind him before he was thrown back by an invisible force, and he was thrown on his back. He jumped up again and punched the wall before him, needing to save his best friend, but he realised that James too had been thrown back and inside the little box of invisible force fields stood Dumbledore, calmly facing the Dark Wizard.

"Your hatred lies with me, Tom. Not the boy."

Sirius didn't pay attention to the fight anymore and he ran to James, slamming to his knees beside the fallen man, who'd banged his head hard on the cold ground and was knocked out.

"Stay with him, Lily," Sirius said, pressing his hand to James' forehead once and jumped up, getting to Thoma. He lifted her easily in his arms and carried her to Lily and James, laying her carefully on the ground and hurrying to get Matthew – he'd want to be with her.

Now he had to get to Hermione.

Hermione who was fighting with Bellatrix Black. His whole world stopped and focused on the two of them, jets of light everywhere and the two dodged and ducked, trying to outdo each other.

Hermione was a brilliant fighter, Sirius summarized. But Bellatrix was better.

"Oi!" He shouted and threw a spell at Bellatrix and he watched her topple foreword, not being able to take the force of the spell and then, in that moment, Hermione looked at him like he'd just murdered her best friend.

His girl had too much pride. He cast a quick glance over his shoulder and saw fire erupt in the box and his view of Dumbledore and Voldemort was blocked.

"Sirius!" He ducked instinctively at Hermione's call (although he wasn't sure why) and green light soared above his head. He looked and saw that Bellatrix was holding a wand and glaring daggers at him – she was so angry that red sparks were erupting from the end of her wand and curling around the magical tool.

"You've done it now, Sirius – you will pay!" He brought his wand up to defend himself but realised all too quickly that she wasn't firing a spell at him.

She was shooting one at Hermione.

"No!" He cried, running to her and catching her just before she hit the ground, her red blood spilled on her beautiful dress, but he couldn't see where. He didn't care about anybody else there and he quickly ripped it off her, exposing her torso and blood soaked bra…But there was still no wound.

"Bitch!" He spat at his cousin, his palms polished with his girlfriend's precious blood. "What did you do to her?" He demanded of her, but he couldn't leave Hermione to find out. She tutted and skipped off, shooting spells merrily at passing fighters as she breezed past, eerily calm and seemingly uncaring of the chaos around her.

"Sirius?" Hermione gasped and Sirius closed his eyes tightly as he saw more blood spill, coating her skin, but he didn't know _where_. "Hurts." She whispered and her eyes closed.

"I know, I know sweetheart, but you need to stay awake, okay? Can you do that for me?" He asked, trying to think of what to do as he held her tightly to his chest, breathing her in.

"Try." She said simply and that was all he could ask for. He had to apparate her out. He had to apparate out and leave his friends alone. He hated himself, but her well being came first.

"Hold tight, love." He whispered and closed his eyes again, focusing on St. Mungo's and he felt the uneasy feeling of being sucked through a pipe before he collapsed to the floor of the Magical hospital and he was surrounded by Healers, all asking what had happened and she was pulled from his grasp and he felt empty without her there. He wasn't permitted to follow them to the emergency room and he collapsed into a seat in the waiting room, quickly sending a patronus to Lily, telling her where he and Hermione was so they wouldn't freak out after the battle.

If they were still alive.

He cursed himself for thinking such things and sent a patronus to Regulus as well – he had a right to know what was happening.

He was in the bathroom, trying to wash off Hermione's blood from all the creases and underneath his fingernails when it banged it open and he found himself pointing his wand at his little brother.

"Sirius, what-"

"Nothing." He interrupted, knowing he was going to ask what was wrong with him. He sighed and lowered his wand, turning back to his reflection. Her blood was on his face as well, or maybe it was his. He didn't know, it was all the same.

"The Healer wants to talk to you." Regulus said and Sirius hung his head. He wasn't sure if he wanted to hear what he had to say, but he needed to know. "Remus is here as well with Peter – he looks awful." Regulus said, "I have to go, they wont want me there, but let me know about Hermione immediately."

"If you wasn't planning on staying, why are you here?"

"To check up on you, Big Brother. Let me know." And he was gone, the door slamming shut.

Sirius went back to the waiting room dreading what the Healer was going to say to him. God help him if Hermione wasn't okay.

"Mr. Black." The Healer motioned him over and he stood before him, moving from one foot to the other nervously, needing to see Hermione, but needing to run if it was bad news…Why wasn't there a wound? "Miss. Kingsley is okay." He nearly cried. He dropped to a chair and buried his face in his hands, aware of the hand on his shoulder, offering comfort.

"What else?" He asked, sending a silent thank-you to Remus, who's right eye was swelled shut.

"Something that I think she should tell you. But she will make a full recovery. She's very lucky, but I don't think the spell was intended to kill her." The Healer said in somewhat confusion and Sirius frowned, but before he could ask more questions, he moved to the couple who had apparated in, one covered in blood, the other shock white.

"Where's James and Co.?" He asked Peter and Remus as he stood up.

"In an emergency room. Lily's pacing somewhere and Megara's throwing up in the toilets. We're all okay, we're all alive. Go get here, Sirius." Peter said tiredly, running his hand through his hair and gesturing to the corridor and Sirius didn't need to be told twice.

What did she have to say to him? He made it to her room quickly and stopped as he looked at her laid out on the Hospital bed, looking for the world like a lost kitten.

"You have to stop doing this Hermione," he whispered as he stepped into the room, even though he knew that it wasn't her fault.

"Cant help it." She said and he fell to his knees beside the bed, not fighting the urge to reach out and touch her, and he grasped her hand tightly in his, his thumb pressing against her wrist and he silently counted her heartbeats.

"I know, baby." He said before he took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "Sweetheart, the Healer said you needed to talk to me about something…What was it?" He asked and he felt her heart race through her pulse point, which in turn caused him to be worried – would whatever spell Bellatrix cast on her have a long term effect?

"Oh, Sirius…The reason that there wasn't a wound is because she didn't inflict one – she destroyed something inside me." He heard her choke back a sob and he looked directly into her deep brown eyes – she was tearing up. He felt his insides twist into knots and he knew that he wasn't going to like what she was about to say at all. "She…The…You see…"

"Hermione, love, calm down. Just take a deep breath and tell me – what did she do?" He heard his own voice tremble at the end, but he wouldn't break. He would be strong for her, but the tension was killing him.

"She destroyed my womb, Sirius. I can never have children." Her words settled heavily by his heart and he felt like someone had just kicked him in the stomach very hard and he had to fight to not throw up – he had envisioned Hermione and him together, married, with screaming kids and a dog jumping around outside, chasing the owls away from the house while her stupid cat (that admittedly, he did buy for her) lounged about, glaring at the children (a boy and a girl) for disturbing it's slumber – the dream had just been ripped to shreds and he was half aware that he growled. "Sirius?" Hermione's voice broke through his anger and sadness and he zeroed in on her tone of voice – she was scared.

He pulled her up and held her tight, so tight that it was a wonder that he didn't hurt her. "I'm sorry," she sobbed into his neck and his fingers moved up her head, entangling in the crazy curls.

"Not your fault, Hermione. Never your fault," he whispered to her and he meant every word. She sobbed into him, seeking him for comfort and he could only imagine how she must feel – yeah, he was angry and upset and it felt like his future had somehow been taken away from him, but she must feel so much worse. That was what made her a woman, and it had been snatched. She couldn't give him what he wanted in that respect and he hated it – but it didn't change the way that he felt about her.

And he had to let her know. "Listen to me, Hermione. After this is all done, and Voldy's dead and the Death Eaters captured, I'm going to propose to you." He said as he moved her head away from his shoulder to look into her eyes, showing her that he meant every word.

"But Sirius, I can't give you child—"

"So we'll adopt." He said, tightening his grasp. "This doesn't change anything – I still love you, more then you can ever know and I need you with me. Yes, a child that's ours would be lovely and I won't lie to you, I'm disappointed as Hell – but like I said, it doesn't change anything and I still love you."

She seemed to believe him and hugged him tightly, pulling him. He laid down beside her and brushed his nose along her jaw. He'd find out about the others later, but for now, he was going to lay here, with his future wife and comfort her, because she had just lost a huge part of herself and there was no way that he was losing her.

* * *

Regulus watched them sleeping through the large window in the door, leaning his shoulder against the door frame as he crossed his arms over his chest. He said he was going to leave, and he was, but when he saw the shattered look on Sirius' face he found it hard to do so. They were brothers after all, and at one point they were best friends.

Regulus had spoken to the Healer and he felt sympathetic towards them – another reason why he was an awful Death Eater. He had always let his emotions get in the way, no matter what they were. He glanced one more time at the sleeping couple, decided that they were okay and pushed away from the door, heading to the apparition point in the waiting room. He got there and apparated without looking, hoping that none of Sirius' friends had seen him as he appeared outside Kaelyn and Noel's old house and walked through the front door easily. Morgan had his palms pressed to the table, going over their plans and Severus was sat cross-legged on the floor (which was a strange picture – he'd never seen the composed Slytherin sat on the floor before) mixing potions. He lifted his head in acknowledgment of Regulus' entrance but didn't look up from his work.

"How is she?" He asked and Regulus saw his hands shake – they'd known about the attack on the wedding, but not till just as it happened – if he'd have known he would have told Sirius and he would defiantly have told Hermione.

"Which 'she' are you referring to?" Morgan asked from where he was stood, but he looked up at Regulus, waiting for his answer – it was strange how the three Slytherin's were so worried about a time-travelling Gryffindor.

"Lily's fine, Severus." Regulus said as he collapsed on the crème couch and he heard Severus let out a sigh of relief, "Hermione…Not so much?"

Severus' head moved up so fast that it was a wonder that he didn't get whiplash and Morgan actually moved away from his plans to stand beside the sofa.

"What happened?" Morgan asked, worry creeping into his deep voice.

"Bellatrix is what happened." Regulus practically spat the name and had to push the anger inside him deep down.

"What a surprise. Will she be okay?"

"She should be, yeah. Psychically anyway. Mentally…I'm not so sure."

"Cruciatus?"

"No. I think this is actually a lot worse then that." Regulus said and sighed, running his hand down his face.

"What can be worse then that? Except the Dementor's kiss of course." Morgan said, moving back to his plans and he hooked his foot around the leg of the chair, pulling it closer to him so that he could sit down.

"You don't wanna know." For a second, both of them looked like they were about to argue, but they didn't and went back to what they were doing.

"Will Hermione be well enough for this plan?" Morgan asked and Regulus sighed, tilting his head back against the back of the sofa.

"Definitely not."

"Damn it." Morgan said, hanging his head.

"But I know who is."

* * *

"Come on, Dumbledore, he's to powerful! We are so close to stopping him – we just need that cup." Quinton said as he raised the fang over his head and pierced the Diary, ignoring the whispered words of his wife's betrayal and he watched as ink poured from the pages like blood would from a bullet wound. It was kind of disconcerting and for a second, he felt like he'd just committed murder. He threw it back into Dumbledore's draw along with the ring and the locket and slammed it shut again.

"Patience, Quinton." Dumbledore said, leaning back in his chair. Upon realising that his Death Eater's were going to lose to the wedding guests, he'd fled – but with the promise that the next time he saw Dumbledore, he would personally squash him like a bug.

Dumbledore didn't feel threatened in the least by Dumbledore and he had no reason to either, Voldemort wouldn't stand a chance against Dumbledore – but he worried for his students and he worried for Hermione.

"We need to know who told the Death Eaters where we were for the wedding." Quinton said tiredly, dropping into a seat opposite the desk, "it had to have been somebody invited – they were the only ones who knew where it was going to be."

"It would seem that we have people inside working against us, Quinton. Rest assured we'll find out who it is." Dumbledore said calmly.

"We may not have time – think about it, this woman could be seducing Peter right now!" Quinton said angrily, banging his fist on the desk.

"I imagine you are referring to Hermione's little 'moment of clarity' as she calls it?"

"Yes, sir."

"I think she's right, but we can't start accusing women of betraying us, Quinton."

"I know, Sir, but we're running out of time here."

"I think…" Dumbledore said slowly as he settled back in his cushioned throne, "that we need to speak to Peter."

_A/N: I'm back! Okay, the reason for my long update is because I was worried - my mother had a cancer scare and I spent a better part of the last two weeks freaking out at the same time trying to stop everybody else freaking out! Can I just say, big love to all my reviewers! I love you guys!_

_Kelly_

_xxx_


	56. The Final Horcrux

**Disclaimer: **_Not Mine_

**Weight of the World**

**Chapter 56**

Morgan gazed at the woman before him, shocked that this was who Regulus had decided would take Hermione's place in the plan.

"Regulus," Morgan hissed as his hands grasped the sleeve of his robe and bodily pulled him back, "you do know who that is, right?"

"Of course I know who it is." Regulus scoffed.

"Then you'll know that she's the daughter of a Death Eater!" He stage whispered, looking out of the corner of his eyes at the woman leaning against the wall, looking bored.

"Yes, I'm aware of that Morgan, but she owes me a favour."

"She owes you a favour? How do you know you can trust her?" Morgan said angrily, crossing his arms over his broad chest.

"Because she isn't like the others," Regulus said simply.

Morgan sighed and shook his head, running a hand over his face. "Are you sure that she can be trusted?" Morgan asked and Regulus' nod of approval was enough. This was the last horcrux before they could kill Voldemort and then – then they were free, and Morgan could finally rest.

"Now, go say hello to Etelani." Regulus said in a patronising tone of voice and Morgan granted him with his best death glare. Regulus just chuckled and moved away from him, heading towards Severus.

He looked at the girl leaning against the wall, picking at her cuticles, her curly black hair falling over her shoulder and surrounding her head, hiding it from view and her dark skin contrasted greatly with the white dress that she had one – the sleeveless white dress which showed off her unmarked forearm.

"Morgan." She said without looking up and Morgan didn't like being put in this situation where he didn't know or trust this person. Yeah, he'd seen Etelani before - she was the daughter of a prestigious Death Eater who had died last year in the name of Voldemort, but he'd never spoken to her or even really acknowledged her presence. The fact that she knew who he was, was a little disturbing.

"Look, I hope you don't think I like this." He said, clenching his fists and she looked up slowly, raising one tamed eyebrow. "I don't trust you." He said and she blinked slowly, as if she didn't really care about his declaration.

"What's your point, Mr. Zabini? I already know you don't, why would you?" She asked without any of the bite that he half-expected to hear from her.

"I don't trust you because you're the spawn of Death Eater scum." Morgan snapped, feeling his anger rise. He remembered Etelani McCale from Hogwarts – The Slytherin had been a few years older then him and had a thing for messing people's lives and there was no way that she would gain his trust and that just threw him into a predicament – he couldn't go on this mission when he didn't really trust the people (or person) around him. But he had to stay focused and not let the stunning beauty opposite him distract him.

"Oh, we're getting hurtful are we?" She said coolly, pushing herself away from the wall, "grow up." She sauntered over to the table to stand between Severus and Regulus, making sure to sway her hips to draw his attention to her behind – an image of Olivia flared up in his mind and he cursed himself, stomping over to the table, glaring at Etelani, hoping that she'd cower. She just rolled her deep brown eyes at him.

"Okay, children." Severus said, drawing Morgan's attention away from the viper of a woman and instead to the greasy haired, hooked nose boy. He wasn't sure if that was a better alternative. "Etelani, do you have it?"

Etelani put her hand in the hidden pocket of her white dress, drawing out five, long black hairs. "Of course I did." She said, throwing them unceremoniously to the table and Morgan was disgusted by the sight of Bellatrix's hair in front of him. Anything to do with the woman just angered him and pissed him off.

"Okay, Regulus, did you do your part?" Severus asked the Slytherin and he pulled out silvery material that looked as if it had been doused in water from underneath his cloak and threw it onto the chair beside him. Morgan knew that while Regulus had gone to see his brother to make sure he was okay, he also had an ulterior motive – he needed James Potter's invisibility cloak.

"So, when are we doing this? Now?" Etelani asked and Morgan grunted, pushing away from the edge of the table that he had been leaning against.

"No. We'll contact you before." He growled – he didn't want to go now in case Etelani had told the other Death Eaters where they were going – to have gotten Bellatrix's hair, she must know what they're doing.

"When are you going to figure it out, Zabini? I'm on you're side." She practically hissed, moving closer to him, trying to intimidate him. The problem was, even in her heels she barely peaked at 5ft4 and he was very tall and very muscular. It took a lot to faze him and she just wasn't cutting it.

"Are you really?" He asked, leaning close so their faces were inches apart and her eyes grew wide as the tips of her ears darkened. "Prove it."

* * *

Sirius was sat beside James' bedside as he and Lily had traded posts for awhile. Lily wanted to see Hermione and Sirius, being a guy, didn't know how exactly to handle her troubles, but he really wished he did.

"Come on, James. Get up, bro." He said to the still boy on the bed, "Lily's getting worried…And if I'm being completely honest and not so manly, so am I, dude." He said truthfully, not feeling a bit ashamed of himself. James was his best friend in the whole world and there was no way he was gonna sit here quietly, least of all for his pride.

"Maybe if I tell you a story, that might cheer you up enough to wake up." He shrugged and his hand reached out till his long fingers were curled around James' wrist, pressing against his pulse point. "Remember the time when we led Filch to the Room of Requirment and confused him so bad that he didn't know which way was up? Oh, or the time in third year when we discovered the passage to Hogwarts at the One Eyed Witch Statue, remember? We came back to the common room that day loaded with sweets and treats and butterbeer. Oh, oh, oh and the time when we dyed Slughorn's hair to Gryffindor colours and the Slytherin's actually thought that their head of house had turned against them? I mean, how stupid could they get?" Sirius asked rhetorically, chuckling to himself at the memories of them as Pranksters.

"You know, it would've been funnier if you hadn't actually stopped the Slytherin's from Slughorn, but you always were like that. Took Evan's a long time to see it as well." He could sense that the tone of his conversation was getting a bit down, but his train of thought was turning him in an entirely new direction and he wasn't sure that he cared for it.

"We did some stupid stuff at Hogwarts – I can't believe I told Severus to go find Remus…He's still bitter about that, by the way." Sirius sighed and ran a hand through his shoulder length black hair, letting it fall back into place. "Severus is a good man – I hate to admit it, but we were stupid being horrible to him…No matter how funny it was." He repressed a snort and let his thumb rub in a circular motion. "Okay, I'm done reprimanding you now, Potter. You can wake up." Sirius hated this, hated seeing his best friend – his _brother _– laid still in a hospital bed, unmoving, totally quiet…It was unnerving and, to be honest, it shook Sirius right to the core.

"You have to wake up now, dude. And I'm not messing around here, I'm being 100% serious. There is no way you are not waking up. Nope, no way…" Sirius carried on with the litany, whispering the words quietly – he just hoped, and prayed, that James got the message.

* * *

"What I don't understand, is why Bellatrix didn't kill her straight up. I mean, she had the opportunity, she had the means, why didn't she do it?" Severus asked before taking his shoot of Fire Whiskey, letting it burn down his throat, "Instead she had to do that to her."

"Because Bellatrix is a mean cow, that's why. Why go straight for the kill when you can torment your victims?" Regulus said glumly as he stared into the crackling fire.

"Besides, the prize for killing Hermione is like being given a one-way ticket to Hell. She's Voldemort's kill and no-one else's." Morgan told them, scrubbing a hand down his face. It was pathetic, really, how effected he was by what had happened to Hermione – she was the reason that Olivia was dead, he tried to tell himself, but he knew that it wasn't the reason, not at all. Hermione didn't know and she couldn't have exactly said 'Oh, by the way, I'm from the future and you're gonna die sometime this year. Have a nice day.' No-one would have believed her.

Severus sighed and hung his head, his fingers curled loosely around the top of the bottle. "This has to stop."

"Hermione's paying the price to much for us." Regulus agreed, rubbing the skin on his forearm where his dark mark lay, hissing slightly when it burned and glowed – he would know as his did the same thing, but he had learnt a while ago to not show pain – as the purple whelps across his back proved.

"Time to feast our eyes on snake-head once again," Regulus said and stood up slowly before apparating on the spot as Morgan and Severus followed, exchanging glances at Regulus' quite accurate description of the Dark Lord.

00000

When they got to Malfoy Manor, the first thing that they heard was screaming – long, loud and piercing and for a brief moment, Regulus had a terrible, stomach clenching fear that it was Hermione's screams, echoing around them, until he came to his senses and realised that Sirius would have contacted him if anything had happened to Hermione, as he wasn't likely to have left her side, or St. Mungo's, for that matter.

They followed the screams with heavy hearts, knowing that they were going to watch the death of somebody that they really didn't want to and, when they pushed open the door to the drawing room, Regulus was sure that his heart stopped.

The woman, naked and bloodied, withering on the floor was tall, had short, shoulder-length blonde hair and that he'd seen her before.

He'd seen her as he walked behind her down a Muggle street and discreetly plucked the hairs from her head to put into a potion for Hermione to drink. He nearly groaned in annoyance, fear and guilt at the picture of her before him, but he couldn't act, couldn't save this innocent girl.

"Ah, I'm glad that you're here to see this, Morgan!" Bellatrix cackled from the dark shadows of the room and Regulus felt the hair on the back of his neck raise in slight disgust and he looked at Morgan who seemed to be unable to look away from the woman on the floor.

"Please…Help…Help me…" She gasped and Bellatrix appeared form nowhere, delivering a swift kick to her stomach, forcing the woman to cough up blood and it splattered on the floor below her as she gagged.

Bellatrix scoffed and flicked her hair off her shoulders before turning to face them, grinning maniacally. "The Dark Lord has orders, you see – Zabini, you are to kill this girl."

If Regulus wasn't so in control of himself, he would have definitely gasped, or done some action to give him away. It was one thing killing a rogue Death Eater on command (that was something that Morgan had done) but to kill an innocent Muggle who literally had nothing to do with this was a different thing entirely.

"I mean, you are the one who let her escape, after all." It appeared that Morgan had managed to look indifferent, but Regulus could tell that Morgan was thinking exactly the same thing as Regulus was as beside him, Severus stared calmly at the woman on the floor – Severus didn't know that this was the form Hermione had taken when she destroyed the ring.

Regulus became aware of a _swish _sound and looked at Morgan to see that he was pointing his wand at the woman, who was sobbing and shaking, still pleading for help, looking at them as if they were her saviours…

In a way, they were – Morgan would make it quick and put her out of her misery, but she didn't deserve the torture that was obviously inflicted upon her before they got there.

Regulus didn't hear Morgan say the words, just the flash of green, the jolt of a body and her blue eyes, staring unseeingly at the ceiling, hope still flashing in them.

He didn't even know her name, and he was the reason that she was dead.

00000

"Tonight." Regulus said heavily, rubbing his forehead, "I don't care what misgivings you have with Etelani, she's on our side and she's helping us – accept it, Morgan." Morgan looked like he was about to argue, but dropped the matter, hanging his head in despair for the life that he had just taken. Regulus sighed and produced his wand, watching as a silver patronus stemmed from the end of his wand, taking the form of a cheetah before it took of, practically flying through the wall of the home that he called his own for now – his parents didn't seem to mind that he was never at home, but the demanded regular letters and news on what he was up to – right now, they thought that he was in Peru, performing a task for the Dark Lord. It really helped that they themselves were not Death Eaters, or he would have been found out ages ago. "We need to finish this – not just for us, not just for our pain. For Hermione's especially."

In less then five minutes, there was a knock on the door and Regulus looked through the peep hole to see Etelani stood there, huddled in a black cloak, her hair curling over her shoulders and cascading down her back. He let her in, not bothering to lock it, knowing very well that a wizard wouldn't be fazed by the lock at all and followed her into the main room.

"Zabini," she nodded at Morgan, who barely looked up from where he was staring at his hands, folded up in his lap, his head bowed. "What happened?" She asked, concern evident in her tone.

"We took an innocents life today." Severus said, slumping in the ladder-back light wooden chair at the circular table.

Morgan looked up then, his gaze worryingly blank. "That's not true Snape. _We _didn't do anything – _I _killed her." He growled and anger flashed through his brown eyes. "I want this finished. Now." He demanded and Etelani nodded, taking her cloak from her shoulders and letting it pool to the floor, showing her dark purple dress.

"Do you have the potion?" She asked and Severus handed it over, adding the black hairs that Etelani had retrieved earlier and Regulus watched as Etelani gulped it down, a look of disgust momentarily on her beautiful face and her features bubbled and distorted as she shrank slightly, her hair turned more frizzy, her skin paler, her fingers longer and her eyes became smaller, more evil looking. In front of him stood Bellatrix, and Etelani shuddered a final time before the cup fell from her hands and smashed on the hard wood floor. "That is disgusting." She said, and Regulus agreed, throwing the Invisibility cloak at Morgan, who caught it expertly, throwing it over his shoulders and pulling the hood up and over his face.

"Come on, Severus – transform me," Regulus said somewhat dramatically, throwing his arms out and closing his eyes. Severus rolled his eyes and took his wand from inside his cloak, pointing it at his face, and Regulus could feel the transformations. When it was over, he looked in the mirror above the mantle piece and blinked at his face, which was now tanned, his hair was short and blonde, his nose was longer, he had freckles…In short, he looked like an idiot. "Thanks, Snape." He said snidely, and ignored Etelani's chuckles.

"You know, Hermione is a genius – this is a great plan." Etelani said in the voice of Bellatrix.

"You better not have told anyone about it, Princess," Regulus heard Morgan's voice from his left and he rolled his eyes (now a dark brown) and walked out the front door, heading for the boundaries of the house and from there, he could apparate. It was strange, he thought, how if he was being called by Voldemort, he could apparate anywhere (except into Hogwarts) – he knew that Etelani and Morgan had followed (Severus would be waiting at the house in case anyone was seriously hurt) because he could hear them bickering behind him.

Finally, the reached the outskirts and he twisted, ignoring the crushing, suffocating feeling of apparition as he appeared just before the giant, majestic building of Gringotts', towering over the wonderers of Diagon Alley and him and Etelani walked up the marble steps, ignoring the gasps of shock at seeing the Death Eater and how they scampered away, getting out of Bellatrix's line of fire, like an ant trying to escape the ray of sun through a magnifying glass. Etelani made a very convincing Bellatrix, Regulus thought, as he watched her scowl and glare at the passer-by's, demanding respect without saying a word.

Together, they pushed open the double doors and stepped into the foyer of Gringott's, watching as everyone stopped and seemed to freeze.

"This isn't a spectator sport – somebody assist me. Now!" Etelani called out in a clear, demanding voice and every available goblin scurried to her.

"Now, Morgan," Regulus whispered harshly and the nearest goblin froze in its tracks, its eyes going glassy and vacant before blinking slowly and revolving to look directly where Morgan should be.

"Be quiet!" Etelani boomed, shutting up all the goblin's around her who were trying to get her to follow them – probably hoping that if they were caught, Bellatrix would remember them and spare them mercy. This was ludicrous, of course – Bellatrix gave nobody mercy. Ever. "I want him. The rest of you should leave my prescence." She waved her hand indifferently and they all backed off, leaving only Etelani, the goblin, Regulus and an invisible Morgan.

"Now," Morgan whispered, "I want you to go and get your spare key for Bellatrix's vault – immediately!" The goblin did as instructed without question, walking as if in a daze to his desk where grabbed a handful of keys and made his way back to them, looking a little bit like a zombie. "Take us to Bellatrix Black's vault!"

The party of three (two to the spectators) made their way to the little underground transportation route and they climbed aboard the wooden square box cars and it whizzed through the underground so fast that he heard Morgan curse, and he guessed that the Invisibility cloak nearly flew off of his form. The wooden cart turned sharply to the left and Etelani nearly lost her balance, but managed to stay seated, though her hair was severely mussed up.

The cart eventually stopped and Regulus happily jumped out, needing to be on stable ground again as his legs felt weak and numb. A hand clapped him on the back of his shoulder and he very nearly fell over at the force of it.

"Open the door." Morgan said and the Goblin reached for the keys and inserted a small, golden key into the even smaller lock before placing his left palm on the left door and they watched in fascination as it melted away.

In the room before them were just piles of gold, piled high, towering over the four of them, certainly looking ready to topple over and collapse on top of them, burying them under the heavy weight of the hundreds of thousands gold coins.

"_What force and strength cannot get through, _

_I with a gentle touch can do, _

_And many in the street would stand, _

_Were I not a friend at hand. _

_What am I?"_

Regulus looked to the side to see a magnificent creature walk into the view, sitting before them, stopping entrance into the vault. The eyes on the human head blinked slowly and carefully at them, tipping it's head to the side as it's mane of hair fell like a waterfall off it's shoulders and Regulus to see that it's body was the shape of a lion, it's tail flicking back and forth across the marble floor, waiting for their answer.

"Regulus, that's a Sphinx, mate." Morgan said, taking the invisibility cloak off and storing it under his own jacket, but he kept his wand pointed at the goblin.

"Yeah, I'm aware." Regulus said wearily going over the riddle in his mind – he didn't know that sphinx's protected some vaults in the Gringotts – he has expected a dragon, as that was what protected his families fortune.

"I suck at riddles." Etelani said, rubbing the back of her neck in confusion. "It looks mad."

It probably was, Regulus thought – If Sphinx's thought that the treasure that they was guarding was under threat, it would attack. _Gentle touch…Strength and force cannot get through…street would stand…friend…_

"What helps you? You're left standing in the street and you need a friend…Why would you be standing in the street though?" Morgan asked, narrowing his eyes in concentration.

"You can't get in your house?" Etelani asked, shrugging her shoulders.

"Why couldn't you get into your house though?" Morgan asked and Regulus felt like hitting himself in the face – of course!

"You need a key, that's the answer, a key! You can't break the doors of the vaults down, you need a key and if you've left them somewhere, you're just stood with nothing to do! Key, it's a key!" He said to the Sphinx and it nodded its head, standing up and heading away from the group, sitting it the shadows once again.

Etelani nodded her head, impressed and turned to look at Morgan. "I thought you were a Ravenclaw?"

"I am a Ravenclaw," Morgan hissed back, glaring at the woman.

"Then how come you suck at riddles?"

"I do not!"

"You didn't know the answer!"

"Neither did you!"

"I'm not a Ravenclaw!"

"No, you're just a heartless, cold, Slytherin Bitch."

"Hey! Why don't you to knock it off! Let's go now." Regulus said, keeping a close eye on the goblin, making sure that Morgan's Imperius curse was still holding up before looking at the two people he was trusting with his life, glaring daggers at each other.

"Heartless? Who the Hell are you calling heartless!" Etelani practically screeched as she stalked foreword, pushing Morgan foreword with all her weight and strength. Normally of course, that would haven't even budged Morgan, but he was concentrating on the Imperius curse, and he wasn't expecting her to physically push him. He went backwards, crashing into a silver suit of armour and immediately jumped up, crying out as multiple suits of armour exploded from the single one, one of which Etelani nudged with her foot.

"Ow, it burns!" Etelani cried, rubbing her foot where the suit had touched and Morgan looked up from inspecting his burns, glaring passionately at her.

"You think you got problems? Have you seen this?" He turned his back to them and Regulus winced in sympathy - Morgan would need some slave from Severus quickly for those burns – they looked painful as hell. "How do we stop them from multiplying?" Morgan asked, "we need to get to the room at the very back."

Regulus sighed and took out his wand, sweeping it around the room and said in a deep, clear voice: "Immobulus!"

Etelani blinked slowly before tentatively reaching out a hand and barely grazing the nearest object to her (which turned out to be a shield with the Black family crest upon it) and closed her eyes tightly: It did not multiply, but it did giver her a nasty burn.

"Okay genius, you've stopped it multiplying – now how do we stop it burning?"

Regulus took a deep breath and rolled his eyes before staring at the door at the far side of the room and looking at the path that was cleared for entrance. "We don't." He said and ran. He was aware of the two following behind him and their yelps of pain when they got burned, but Regulus kept focused, ignoring the tinges of pain.

"Regulus, it broke – The Goblin knows were intruders!"

The words yelled by Morgan almost caused him to slow down, but instead he went faster – they needed to get to the door, the needed to get to the door, they needed to get to the door…

His hand reached out and grabbed the brass handle, ignoring the deep burn to his palm and yanked it open, ushering Etelani inside (who looked like Etelani again) and Morgan, who looked a little worse for wear – if Regulus didn't know better, he'd say that Morgan had taken a lot of burns for Etelani, but that couldn't be…He hated her.

He slammed the door shut behind them just as the sphinx (who he didn't even know was chasing after them) reached them and it slammed into the door – you could hear the thud as it rammed into the wood.

"That…" Etelani gasped, bent over, her hands clasped on her knees, "was to close."

Morgan looked down at her, a look of confusion on his face, "Well, you didn't except this to be easy did you?" he asked from where he was leaning against the wall.

Regulus rolled his eyes for probably the eighteenth time and wandered even further into the room – to the gleaming, small golden cup, hovering in mid-air, the jewels on either side glinting in the light of the fire around the edges of the room, the badger engraved into the gold seemed to wink at him, as if to say "_well done, Regulus – have a drink…"_

He ripped his gaze from the cup and brought his wand up, quickly saying the incantations that Hermione had taught him – he knew that the cup, or Voldemort's soul inside the cup, wanted him to drink from it, to corrupt him – just like the ring did to Hermione – to destroy him from the inside out.

"Regulus, hurry, we have to go, they know we're in here!" Morgan said with a tone of hurry, making Regulus work faster.

"How are we supposed to get out?" Etelani asked, her gaze moving quickly around the room, as if hoping another door or a window would appear from nowhere.

"Don't worry," Morgan said soothingly – soothingly? Who was this and what had he done with Morgan Zabini? "Regulus has a plan, right?"

Just as he asked the question, the cup lowered carefully to the ground and Regulus scooped it up, ignoring the pulsing beat of evil emitting from it. "Of course I do. Kreacher!" He yelled, just as another bang sounded on the wooden door, "Kreacher, now!"

Etelani looked at him as if he had just sprouted three heads. "Are you telling me that House Elves can apparate into Gringott's?" She asked incredulously, just as the old and worn House Elf appeared in the corned of the room.

"Of course they can – their magic is different, remember?" Regulus said as he clasped his right hand with Kreacher's left, waiting impatiently for the other two to grab hold. "We couldn't have directly apparated in because it's detected by the Goblins – but they know we're here now. So grab hold!" Etelani did as she was asked and the House-Elf whisked them away just as the door burst open and the sphinx pounced to the place were they were just standing seconds before.

* * *

Hermione stared at the ceiling, her hand rubbing her stomach in slow, soothing circles as beside her, Lily snoozed with her head on the edge of the bed. She needed to see Sirius, who was in the room next door with James, his best-friend, his brother – a part of his family, his life. Hermione couldn't help but feel just a tiny bit jealous, but she couldn't always lean on Sirius for emotional support – it was getting ridiculous now, how much she depended on him – she was an independent woman, for Merlin's sake, she didn't need help all the time.

But there was something about the way that Sirius spoke to her that made her feel loved and safe, and she strived to hear it again, to let her know that it wasn't her fault and that everything would be okay.

Slowly and carefully, so as not to wake up Lily, Hermione rose slowly from her bed and opened the door quietly, padding across the hallway to James' room. She was about to knock on the door when the door opened anyway, and Sirius was stood, gazing down at her, still in his smart dressrobes that he wore for Rayne's wedding.

"Hermione, are you okay? What's wrong?" He asked and Hermione didn't answer, instead she moved closer to him and wound her arms around her torso, feeling so happy when his arms looped around her shoulders, pulling her closer and he dropped a kiss to the crown of her head. "Are you in pain?"

"No," she whispered, snuggling closer, letting his body heat warm her chilled body, "just missing you."

_A/N: And, there we have it – it took me a week and a bit when I said it would take me two days – I did say no promises! _

_Is everyone excited for Deathly Hallows? I practically cry every time the Trailers and TV spots comes on the TV!_

_Also, thanks to some amazing reviews – you constant reviews (and I do have my favourites!) are what keep me writing when I just wanna quit, or give in – Thankyou guys so much for the support, especially about my mother, she told me to thank everyone who asked for her health and wished her to get well soon – sadly, she's feeling a lot worse and I'll still try to get this story finished (I am determined) only a few chapters away now, but it may take a while – I am sorry and I thank you all for your patience._

_Thanks for reading and reviewing :D_

_Kelly_

_xxx_


	57. Only One Thing Left To Do

**Disclaimer: **_I do not own Harry Potter in any way, shape or form, no matter how much I wish it were true._

**Weight of the World**

**Chapter 57**

The room was small and dank and Sirius tightened his grip around Hermione as she leaned on him for support, her stomach aching horribly as she shakily sat down with Sirius' guidance. Beside her, James coughed feebly into his hand as he bundled himself up in the many coats that Lily had forced him to wear. James had woken up, coughing and gasping and had been released from St. Mungo's yesterday and ever since Lily had just fussed over him and he seemed to be enjoying the attention tremendously. Now, they were sat in a room above the Hog's Head waiting for the other members of the Order to arrive, Hermione fidgeting nervously.

Slowly, the room began to fill up with witches and wizards that Hermione recognised instantly, the spitting image of Neville stepped in, followed by a round-faced woman with short, brown hair and a smile that literally brightened up the room – these were Neville's parents. Aberforth, too, joined the little group upstairs whom Hermione had come to know as Albus' brother who was the owner of the Hog's Head, as well aas a wel known Mad-Eye Moody, who appeared much less scared and his nose was still in tact. Benjy Fenwick, Caradoc Dearborn, Dorcas Meadows and Edgar Bones also traipsed into the room, all of who Hermione only recognised due to the photo that she had seen in 1995 of the first Order. McGonagall entered next, her hat perched on top of her head and her eyes glinting at the four ex-Hogwarts students. Finally, Dumbledore came next, his fingers pressed together as he looked at each witch or wizard in turn, silently demanding their respect. Everyone here, at one point in their lives had been taught by this great man, Hermione pondered and she thought it funny that he would even think that he needed to make them respect him – all of them did, otherwise they wouldn't be here.

"As I'm sure that you're aware, these are dark and grieving times. Voldemort is stronger then ever." He said, ignoring the gasps of the people gathered in the room at the sound of the evil 'mans' name, and Hermione barely managed to contain her scoff "We are here to create a force strong enough to repel him, and defeat him. Everyone here has special qualities that make them ideal for the job, and are most definitely up for the challenge." He half-smiled as he glanced at Hermione over the top of his half-moon specs. "Miss Kingsley here has a plan, one that will shock and probably worry most of you, but don't be discouraged by following an eighteen year old – she knows exactly what she is doing." As the last word fell from his mouth Hermione stood up shakily and cleared her throat. Instantly all eyes flickered to her and she felt a lump rise in her throat.

She suddenly became self-conscious about the way she looked, knowing that she had pale, almost pearly white skin, had bags under her eyes and her hair was probably in need of a good wash, but she genuinely couldn't be bothered to 'doll herself up' as Sirius had put it that morning as he leaned his shoulder against the doorframe, clad in only his pyjama pants and a mug of warm coffee steaming in his hand. With that particular image in mind, Hermione felt her cheeks flush before she shook her head, ridding her mind of the delicious image (though she'd probably go back to it later) and cleared her throat before speaking. "For the past year or so me and a few others have discovered something – Voldemort-"

"Don't say his name!" Benjy Fenwick practically shouted, his skin loosing what little colour he seemed to have, "I don't see why some people cant…Respect He-Must-Not-Be-Named."

"Fear of a name only increases the fear of the thing itself." Sirius said helpfully from where he was sat, his feet crossed at the ankles, his arms crossed over his chest.

Dumbledore chuckled, "continue, Hermione," Dumbledore prompted.

"Right." Hermione agreed, "_Voldemort-" _she stressed, ignoring the flinch from the short, round shouldered man, "has split his soul into five pieces. He hid them in objects and, as I said before, me and few others, including Sirius, have been on the hunt for them. He's got two more on his list that he needs to make and we need to stop him before he does that." Hermione said and looked into the shocked faces of the order.

James let out a slight cry of outrage and everyone turned to look at him, raising an eyebrow as he pointed in horror at Sirius. "You've been keeping this from me!" He asked sceptically, "what about 'blood brothers' huh? Where was that when you were risking your life?" He snapped and Hermione saw that he was shaking violently.

Sirius looked down, ashamed of himself (something that Hermione had never actually seen Sirius look before, and quickly decided that he looked like a kicked puppy) "James, man, it wasn't like that –"

"Wasn't like that? Are you joking?"

"Well, isn't this beautiful? Can the sweet talk for later, ladies and let the woman finish!" Mad-Eye growled and his electric blue eye swung around in its socket.

Hermione nodded her thanks at the Auror and placed her hand on Sirius' shoulder for emotional support as she saw Lily do the same to James. "So far we've found them all and getting ready to destroy the ones we have."

"How exactly are you going to do that? And who are the others?" McGonagall asked, tilting her head to the side in questioning.

"Well, a basilisk fang does the trick, as does Fiendfyre. Morgan Zabini's been helping me, as well as Regulus Black and Severus Snape."

"Oh, you mean the Death Eaters?" James practically growled, a pout forming on his lips.

"James – they're not the traitors that you think they are." Hermione said with conviction and James raised his eyebrows in a dismissive manner, but he didn't interrupt her again. "They've been working from the inside to infiltrate Voldemort's circle, which is a very dangerous job."

"Wow." Said Lily, "that's where Morgan vanished to."

"Yeah, after Olivia was killed, Morgan joined them." A blanket of sadness descended on all four of them at the thought of Olivia's death and Hermione tried to ignore the shaking breath that Sirius exhaled.

Dumbledore cleared his throat and stood, signalling to Hermione that she could sit back down now and she did so happily, entwining her fingers with Sirius'. "Throughout the course of the school years, they have been a number of 'junior' Death Eaters in the school, usually about five, left to protect the Horcrux, however, Regulus was the only one who knew what it was, only three were privy to where it was."

Hermione blinked at surprise at the wise man, although she shouldn't be surprised that he knew pretty much everything. Besides, another thought entered her mind – Regulus had probably told him.

"Do you know who gave Rayne's wedding away?" James asked, sitting up straighter in his seat, trying to fight back the wince as his bruised back hit the rickety wood.

Dumbledore gave a hesitant nod and his eyes flickered to Hermione and back. "While Hermione was recovering from an accident that happened this year, she had, what she likes to call, a moment of clarity, which showed Peter being swayed by a female Death Eater. Now, me and Quinton, who can't be here today for personal reasons, we've been discussing it and we can only think of one person. Who exactly does Peter have a crush on these days?"

* * *

This woman was practically mesmerizing, Peter thought as her hands quickly undid the buttons on his white button down. She was doing an excellent job of keeping his mind and thoughts away from Hermione and James and the fear he felt as he saw them unconscious – despite the fact they were both awake and released from the hospital, it was painful to remember how lifeless James looked, who was always so full of energy.

His thoughts turned to mush and something warm pooled in his stomach as she snaked her skilled tongue inside the warm cavern of his mouth, her cold hands settling on his exposed chest.

She broke the kiss and grinned wickedly at him, her blood red lips parting over the hard wall of her teeth and a glint in her eye told him that he should be nervous. Suddenly his arms and legs were spread and tied to the bedposts around him and he practically whimpered at how delicious she felt as she sat astride him. A part of him was telling him that this was wrong, but she was overage and so, so attractive it physically ached.

"Now, Peter…" She crooned softly in his ear shifting _just so_ to cause a groan to spill past his lips, "where exactly are your friends? I don't want them to walk in on this," she said and leaned over, her brown hair falling over her shoulder and he longed to brush it back, but the binds that tied him wouldn't let him move.

"Err…" He scanned his mind quickly, trying to remember where his friends were exactly, "James and Sirius have taken Hermione and Lily on a double date and Remus is going for a job interview at the book shop down Diagon Alley." He reached his head up and was pleased when she allowed him to kiss her lips before she sat up straight, resting her weight on her knees as she still straddled him.

"And where have James and Sirius gone? They wont be interrupting this, will they?"

"Nah." Peter said, shaking his head, "they've gone to the Hogs Head."

"Excellent." She said as she leaned back for her wand. "Don't you think it's unfair that they have all made plans and left you here on your own?" she asked, running her other hand up his leg teasingly. But before Peter could answer, the door practically blew up and shards of wood covered both of them.

"What in Merlin's name is happening?" Peter shouted, struggling against the rope holding him down. Stood there was James and Sirius, both looking livid and a little disappointed. "What are you doing here?"

James ran his hand through his unruly hair and he moved the tip of his wand to point at her chest, raising an eyebrow. "Autumn," he said in greeting and she smiled sweetly.

"James." She said in return, sliding off the bed and Peter blushed a vivid scarlet as his attraction for her became visual to the two boys and he saw Sirius hiding a grin.

"Get here." James said authoritatively and Peter struggled again, demanding to know what was going on before James said it again and Autumn rolled her brown eyes, moving towards him easily, not seemingly bothered that the only thing on her body was her red underwear set, which neither of the boys were effected by.

Autumn cried in outrage when silver binds flew from the tip of his wand and around her wrists, tightening them behind her back. "What is the meaning of this?" She cried as Peter watched in horror at what James was doing.

"Hmm, where do I start? Setting the house-Elf on Hermione and Regulus while they were destroying a part of your Oh-So-Amazing Lord, sending Death Eaters to Rayne's wedding, or trying to turn Peter against us; So many choices." He practically snarled and dragged her away as she cried that they were lying and that she had no part in it.

Peter felt his heart break at James' accusation but he knew deep down that he must be right, or have some evidence to prove that she was what he was saying. He felt like he'd just been plunged into a bucket of icy cold water and his mind cried out for Sirius to just leave, but he crossed his arms over the top of the foot of the bed, raising his eyebrow in amusement. "You look like a Christmas Turkey." He said conversationally before tapping the bed and the roped disappeared. Peter instantly swung around, pressing his feet to the cold floor and burying his head in his hands, wishing deeply that Sirius would just walk away and leave him to his own embarrassed and lonely thoughts.

No such luck, however, when he heard Sirius round the bed to sit beside him. "Don't worry about it, mate. We'd probably all get hoodwinked by someone as beautiful as her." Sirius said condescendingly, placing a hand on Peter's shoulder.

"Really?" Peter asked sceptically, not looking up from his hands.

"Definitely. Did you see her body?" Sirius asked and Peter couldn't stop the laugh in time, just as James tumbled in the room, grinning.

"I enjoyed that." He said smugly, running a hand through his messy black hair as Sirius scoffed before fixing James with a wide, puppy-eyed look and practically simpered: "I love it when you take charge, Jaime."

"Gerr'off it!" James said trying to sound nonchalant, but ended up sounding rather pleased with himself. "Whatever would Hermione say if she heard you compliment Autumn Phillips like that, huh?" He asked, stowing his wand in his jacket pocket.

Sirius shrugged and ran a hand through his own shoulder length black hair, letting it fall back into place immaculately. "She wouldn't worry much."

Peter could honestly say that he felt slightly better with his friends joking and laughing with each other and he slowly felt his embarrassment melt away as he buttoned his shirt back up before a thought slammed to the fore-front of his mind. "So…She was only with me to get to you guys?" He asked in a small voice, "she didn't like me at all?"

"Aw, mate – I'm sorry." James said sincerely, placing a hand on his shoulder and squeezing in comfort as Sirius ruffled his hair.

Sirius barked a laugh, "don't worry, Wormtail. One girl out there's bound to be impressed by your rat like features and watery eyes." Instead of offending him, like it probably would do normally, it did the exact opposite and he berated himself for thinking for even a second that they were against him. Outside the window of his very small apartment, he saw his…Well, he saw Autumn being lead away, wrapped in Mad-Eye Moodys heavy mole skin coat and they vanished with a 'pop' leaving behind nothing but his cracked heart and his best friends to cheer him up.

"What do you say to finding Remus and getting a drink?"

* * *

"So he took it fairly well?" Regulus said as he lounged on the crème sofa in the Vine Home, hands tucked behind his head as he looked critically at Hermione, who looked exhausted.

Hermione shrugged and rubbed her face with a hand, resting her forehead on her hand, her elbow propped up on the table behind her. "Yeah, that's what Sirius said in his patronus. Besides, I'm getting more memories and he's in them, not evil. So are James and Lily. We saved them." Beside her, Severus practically sagged in relief and Regulus felt his heart jump a bit in happiness – he didn't particularly care about them two, but a save was a save and it benefited most of the people, if not all, on his team. Including his big brother. "James has forgiven Sirius as well."

Before Regulus could ask why James was mad at Sirius in the first place, the front door opened and heels clicked on the hard-wood floor. Hermione frowned at Regulus before reaching for her wand. "Who the hell is that?" She hissed and the figure of Etelani appeared in the doorway, her black curls sopping wet from the rain outside, Morgan following close behind. "Again, I'll ask – whose this?"

"This is Etelani. Kingsley, she's on our side." Severus told her, "she helped us get the cup." Hermione however, didn't lower her wand.

"How do you know she's on our side?" She asked, glaring at the dark skinned woman, who spread her arms and showed her unmarked forearm, but Hermione didn't seem to buy it. "Covered it up. I'm not stupid and I thought you and Severus would have more sense then to trust some stranger."

Regulus sighed and stood up, rolling up the sleeves of his dark blue button down sleeves. "I saved her. She was locked up in the cellars of Malfoy Manor and was in serious need of medical help. Apparently, she really angered Voldemort." Regulus said, looking at Etelani, who seemed to have gone pale at the memory of it.

"How do you know it isn't a ruse? What did you do to annoy him?" She fired the questions off, but Regulus could see her wand waver – whether it was due to her trust in them or her exhaustion, he didn't know.

"I –" she chocked on her own voice and had to stop for a few seconds to regain her composure, and Regulus couldn't help but notice the hand that Morgan placed on the small of her back, as if for guidance. "I said no to something. He brought in this small child, about four years old and ordered me to kill him. I said no. He didn't like that." Her voice broke at the end and a solemn feeling settled on the occupants of the room, like a blanket of snow surrounding the home, isolating it. Hermione finally put her wand down and all but collapsed back into her seat. Regulus instantly went to stand by her in case she needed anything.

"I'm fine." She said, a small smile on her face, "I'm just so very tired." She closed her eyes and leaned her head back over the back of the chair, the deep, purple bags under her eyes becoming more apparent.

Severus coughed awkwardly, "why don't you go get some rest before Sirius gets here?" He asked and Hermione nodded, standing shakily and heading slowly for the staircase, glancing back once more before disappearing up the stairs. They all stayed quiet till her footsteps couldn't be heard any longer and the door to the guest bedroom closed.

"Well, that was eventful." Etelani breathed out, "I was sure that she was going to kill me."

"She probably would have done if we hadn't intervened." Severus said and Etelani shot a glare at him. "Just saying…"

"Right, Morgan, you got the fang?" Regulus said, heading for his robes thrown over the back of the couch and he rifled through the material, coming up with the cup of Hufflepuff and the locket of Slytherin. "I already got the Diadem, Hermione got the ring and Dumbledore told me that he got the Diary – now all that's left is these two – Severus, Morgan take a Horcrux of your choosing and stab away." He said, pushing the remaining contains of Voldemort's soul towards the two Slytherin's.

"Why aren't we doing it with Hermione? Is it a secret?" Etelani asked, coming up behind Regulus, who shook his head, his black strands of hair falling into his gun metal silver eyes.

"No." He said as he watched Severus stab the cup, the metal seemingly melting as it let out a traitorous scream. "She's physically and mentally drained. Being so close to exposed Horcruxes when she's so weak could possibly kill her." Morgan's Horcrux, the locket, but up a fight, and Morgan almost couldn't stab the locket when it said that he had betrayed his one true love and Olivia appeared, screaming of his betrayal.

Afterwards, Morgan looked spent, tears dripping from his eyes and Etelani appeared next to him, rubbing the skin between his shoulder-blades, ignoring the gasping chokes as Morgan tried his best to compose himself. "What happens now?" She asked Regulus, looking straight at him.

"There's only one thing left to do." He said honestly, "Fight the war."

_A/N: I know, terribly late. I've been so busy this week with college and…Deathly Hallows! I've seen it a fair few times now (about five) and it keeps getting better – but I still see flaws in it! Like the dancing scene between Hermione and Harry? What was that about? And when the Snatchers were chasing them through the forest…Hello, you have magic, wands – apparate away! _

_Anyways, did you like the film? Hate it? Did you cry when Dobby…Sob…I can't even say the words! Let me know! _

_I know this chapter seems very rushed, and that's because it is - I want to move the story along a bit - did you all suspect Autumn? I know somebody definitley did :D I know that Peter took it well and James has just forgiven Sirius, but that'll be explained soon :D_

_Thanks for reading!_

_Kelly_

_xxx_


	58. The Last Day Of Freedom

**Disclaimer: **_Any Harry Potter related thing in this story is not mine, but I would so pay for the rights to Sirius and now, after seeing DH Part 1, Ron strangely enough :/_

**Note: **_Sexual Themes, but I'm not changing the rating because it isn't explicit – there's enough to know what's going on, but not enough to be classed as 'M' in my opinion. _

**Weight of the World**

**Chapter 58**

Peter's head hit the table hard and a snore passed from his lips as the tumbler in his hand tilted and Fire Whiskey sloshed onto the floor. Remus raised his eyebrow at the man and then looked at Sirius and James in questioning.

"He's a little upset." James said simply and stood up, reaching for his wand in his jean pocket and pointing it at him, "the girl he likes is a suspected Death Eater, trying to turn his against us."

Remus' eyebrows practically hit his hairline as he watched James hover Peter to lay him down on the old, worn, beat up couch in Peter's living room and grab a blanket, throwing it over his slumbering form. "How do you know that?" He asked, his tone somewhere between scepticism and curiosity.

Remus didn't miss the look that passed between James and Sirius, the one that only best friends, brothers, could manage and they had a quiet conversation that he, once again, wasn't privy to. "Peter told us."

"And he didn't tell me?" Remus asked, slightly stung.

"I don't know, mate – why don't you ask him when he wakes up?" James suggested as Sirius stood as well, grabbing his leather jacket and shoving his arms in the sleeves before reaching for his gloves.

"Well ladies – I'm off. I got a hot date." Sirius winked and left the apartment with a wave and a smile before setting eyes on his beauty. Well, one of them, anyways.

He approached his motorbike, his hand briefly stroking the gleaming black top before he straddled the majestic beast, easily fitting the key into the lock and turning it on – he loved hearing the roar of the engine and listened to it's lull for a second before kicking it off and revving the engine, barely stopping the urge to shout for joy as the wind whipped at his face, hair and the ends of his jacket as he zoomed down the streets, by-passing people in cars and pedestrians. The only faster mode of transportation (besides one of those muggle planes, of course) was apparition, and his motorbike was much more enjoyable. If only Hermione would get on it with him – the thought of her sitting behind him, soft thigh on either side of his hips and the soothing engine beneath them and her small, smooth hands clutching his waist was basically his idea of heaven, and he quickly thought up ways to get her on the motorbike, but he was sure that none of them would work.

He found his thoughts straying from Hermione to Peter and he felt his heart sink at the inner pain that Peter had going through – he knew what it felt like to be stabbed in the back by a girl (an image of Spring Phillips comes to mind) and Sirius pondered the evil gene that seemed to run through the Quad's family. He sincerely hoped that Kara wouldn't feel the sting of betrayal from Summer as his motorbike pulled up outside Kaelyn and Noel Vine's old home and he made a mental note to stop by to Micah Winchester's home to see little Heather, who he hadn't seen properly since Olivia's funeral.

It was lucky that, when Peter got suspicious and interrogated them, demanding to know how they knew Autumn was using him and how it was them that seemed to arrest her, that he was to drunk to fully understand the answers, and Sirius knew that he and James would have to come up with an amazing cover story or find some way to convince Dumbledore to let both Peter and Remus into the order.

But right now he put those thoughts on hold as he climbed down elegantly from the bike, his attention drifting quickly to the girl with bushy hair, a wide smile and his heart in her hands.

He walked up the steps leading to the house and pushed open the door with his shoulders as he pulled his gloves off his hands, not bothering to knock as they knew that he would be dropping by soon to pick up Hermione – of course, she didn't know that he had his motorbike. A wicked grin crossed his lips as he looked quickly in the living room to see Regulus, Severus, Morgan and a girl who he recognized faintly all sat around the table in the middle of the room, all looking slightly shocked, stressed, angry and tired as two mangled objects beside them smoked, the grey surls billowing to the ceiling.

"You didn't save one for me?" He asked and Regulus barely spared him a glance. "Where's Hermione?" He asked, leaning his shoulder against the doorframe, arms crossed over his chest, "and who in Godric's Hippogriff's name is this?" He asked, nodding his head at the dark skinned woman who was practically sitting on Morgan's lap.

"Etelani, meet Sirius. Sirius, meet the newest member of our team." Morgan said, pressing his fingertips to his tired eyes, "Hermione's upstairs asleep. She's exhausted mate."

Severus stood, the legs of the chair squeaking across the floor, "she keeps getting new memories, but she won't go into detail about them. Maybe to you she will. We know the essentials, yes, but we don't know if it's enough."

"We know that her memories change in accordance to the events that she changes, so we won't know if we manage to defeat Voldemort until the actual battle, but it'd be nice to have a head's up." Regulus finished, running a hand through his black hair, his grey eyes fixed on the oak wood before him. Sirius raised his eyebrow at his little brother, concern shining in his equally grey eyes.

"Battle?" He asked and Regulus nodded. "When?" Sirius felt dread settle in his stomach and it felt as if someone had sucked all the air out of the room.

Regulus sighed and laid his head on the table, "the day after tomorrow." He said glumly and Sirius felt nerves creep up his spine.

"Seriously? The day after tomorrow? Are you mental?" He asked, his voice rising. There was no way in Merlin's beard that they would be able to pull it off. How were they supposed to get a big enough team to take him down? There was the Order, sure, but there weren't enough witches and wizards to help them win this war.

"It's the only time he'll be out in the open for a long time – he's going to move the locket Horcrux – remember, I said he'd always keep one moving? Well it's this one. And he's taking Severus." Severus seemed to pale even more and Sirius felt fear for his old foe. "After they've moved it, they'll have to head back to Malfoy Manor and apparate outside the borders, the defence barriers – that's where we'll strike."

Sirius was shaking his head, much like a dog did when it was trying to fight off sleep and he breathed out sharply – there was no way they could pull this off. "Rally up the warriors, Sirius. It's time to fight." Sirius could see flaws with this plan (what if they had a house-elf? What if Voldemort caught on? What if he lost Hermione…) and it seemed that judging by Regulus' face, he saw them as well. "It's the best possible time – if we manage to freeze the enchantments, which is Etelani here's specialty, then the Death Eaters inside the manor can't get out and Voldemort will be to busy duelling us all to try and get in and he'll only have the Death Eaters around the perimeter to protect him – that's what, ten? And Morgan will be on duty then as well, so he can probably get the ones round back for us – get him from the inside you know?" He said, his eyes downcast and Sirius' thoughts strayed instantly to tomorrow – what would he do on possibly his last day? Well, that could be seen as being dramatic, but he wasn't really. This was Voldemort they were facing and if the freezing charms didn't work on the protective charms, then pretty much every single Death Eater as well.

"Wont he know if the Horcrux is fake?" He asked and Regulus nodded slowly, his hand cradling his forehead.

"Maybe. Probably. He'll still have to go back to Malfoy Manor though, it's his base. Ever since he learned that Hermione could take him down he went to the Death Eater with the most protection on their house – the Malfoy's." Regulus explained and blinked hard – he looked tired.

Sirius sighed and ran his hand through his hair, getting the leather band around his wrist and tightening it around his hair, tying it back. "I best go get Hermione. Does she know about this?" Sirius asked, the thought of her fighting with them caused his insides to squirm and his legs turn to jelly in slight fear.

"No," Morgan said, "but she'll have to fight, Sirius. She's one of the best duellers that we have. All the experience she went through, I suppose." Deep down, Sirius knew that he couldn't stop Hermione from fighting alongside him; it was what she had come here to do and, as a member of the order, it would be required of her to fight – that didn't mean that he wouldn't try to stop her.

Without a word, he turned and moved up the stairs, his thoughts swirling with the threat that was approaching. He needed to send a patronus to Dumbledore, but the grand wizard probably already had worked it out. And the Marauders: he needed to see them and he knew that the secret of the Order would be broken by him and James as they told Peter and Remus. It would be nice, he thought as he pushed open the door to the guest bedroom that he and Olivia had once slept in (nothing inappropriate happened), to have his best friends fighting beside him – extra protection for both Hermione and Lily.

He walked over to the bed, his footfalls echoing slightly around the crème coloured room and he gazed at the beauty that was his. Her brown, curly hair was spread out over the white pillow and her face was turned away slighty, her tanned skin clashing with the pure white of the sheets. One of her arms was laid gently across her stomach, as if protecting it from future damage and the other one was by her head, her hand open, vulnerable in sleep – the scars that she hid during the day could be seen and he beat his anger down at the sight of _Mudblood _carved into her forearm.

He sat beside her and leaned on an arm, hovering over her body as his other reached out, fluttering over her face gently, as if mapping it to memory. "Wake up, Sweetheart. It's time to send you home." He said gently and he watched as she stirred awake, her eyelashes fluttering against her cheekbones and they opened slowly, like a newborn Fawn awakening, revealing her beautiful brown eyes that held so much emotion. She liked to appear to be able to hide her emotions, but one look in her eyes and it was like looking into the windows of her soul – every emotion flittered across the doe orbs.

"Hmm…Sirius?"

"I'm here. Let's go now, love. We need to talk about something." He hated bringing up the oncoming war with her, but she needed to know. She 'hmm'ed in agreement and slowly sat up rubbing the sleep from her eyes. He took her hand and together they stood, Hermione a little unsteady as she fought a yawn and Sirius hoped she was too tired to disagree to a ride on his motorbike.

They said goodbye to the group of Slytherin's, and one Ravenclaw, in the living room and went outside. The cold bit at Sirius instantly, even over his leather jacket and beside him, Hermione practically shook at the shock of icy wind with only her pale red summer jacket to protect her. Without thinking Sirius pulled his jacket off and put it over her shoulders, his grey button down shirt would suffice for now and he put his arm around her shoulders, pulling her close and she put hers around his waist, her fingers hooking into The belt loops of his tight, black jeans.

"Sirius – I am not getting on that monstrosity." She said, anger and stubbornness seeping into her tone, but Sirius seemed not to hear her, keeping them both walking to the gleaming black motorbike, a smile on his face at the sight of it – he couldn't thank James' dad enough for this gift – it was a pity that neither Harold or Rachel was feeling very well.

Sirius reluctantly let go of Hermione as he swung one leg over, grasping the handle with his hands as he tilted the bike, the sole of his other boot pressed to the grassy ground, eyebrow perked up at Hermione, who was stood with her arms crossed over her chest, refusing to get on.

"Come on, Hermione." He said, extending one hand out, open, inviting, "trust me." He remembered saying that to her what seemed like a million years ago when he first met her when she got lost heading to charms…But then again, she probably didn't get lost…Well played, Hermione.

He saw the resolve she had to not get on the bike drop and she sighed and extended her hand to his and he smiled at the feel of her soft skin in his calloused hand.

"Go on, Hermione! Be the Gryffindor you know you are!" They both turned to see Regulus leaning against the fence of the wrap-around porch, lifting a bottle of Butter beer to them and taking a long pull. Hermione laughed and clambered on behind him, holding him tight as he kicked the engine off and screaming a little as they sped onto the road, the tyres eating up the black tarmac as he zipped between cars and laughed at every squeak of terror that passed her beautiful lips.

They reached the protective boarders of her and Lily's house and the engine started to die. Hermione smiled in happiness as the bike slowed to a stop and tightened her grip around his middle, twisting in her seat and he felt suffocation grip his lungs and then he was in front of the large house and he frowned.

"You left my bike!" He said accusingly and Hermione smiled.

"Are you a wizard or not?" She asked and a light bulb seemed to go off above his head and he waved his wand with a flourish, safe in the knowledge that his bike would remain undamaged, he took her hand and led her into the house.

There, in the living room, Lily and James were in a very comprising position, entwined so tightly on the sofa that Sirius couldn't tell where one began and one ended. As one, Hermione and Sirius closed their eyes in respect for the other sex and Sirius cleared his throat loudly.

Lily let out a shriek of shock and outrage and Sirius could practically see them jumping apart as if the other burned and they were trying their damn hardest not to get burned. "You can look now," Lily said and Sirius opened his eyes to see Lily wrapped up in a pink dressing gown, her red thoroughly messed up and James slouching back in the sofa, grinning triumphantly – not having bothered to throw a shirt and just his jeans.

"We need our own place," James said.

"You need to use your room!" Sirius laughed before a thought entered his mind and he pulled Hermione with him to sit on the table in front of the roaring fire, ignoring the scowl that both females threw him. "I need to talk to you three – as members of the Order."

Instantly, he had their undivided attention and they looked at him intently. "All the Horcruxes have gone and a plan's been made – you see, the only thing left to do is fight." He started and the other three nodded – Sirius didn't miss the fact that James reached for Lily instantly and Sirius resisted the urge to grab Hermione himself. "A day has been decided –"

"-How can you decide a day for a war?" James interrupted and Sirius sighed, knowing that if he brought up the gang then James would go icy on him again – he had only forgiven him for keeping it a secret when Sirius said he didn't want him involved so he wouldn't get hurt and leave Lily alone.

"I didn't. It's the only day that Voldemort will be out in the open without his Death Eater clan." He launched into the explanation and he watched the dread and _fear _flit across Lily's Emerald eyes and James' hazel as he tightened his grip around Lily and beside him, Hermione placed her hand on his thigh to give comfort and take it from him.

"Wow. A day. We have a day to do what?" James asked, his fingers running up and down Lily's arm. "We'll have to prepare for most of the night…" He trailed off, the fire reflecting in his glasses. "I take it we're telling people?" James asked and Sirius nodded – Remus and Peter at the top of the list. "I have some news for you, by the way." James said and leaned over the arm of the couch to his jacket that had been thrown unceremoniously to the floor and he took out a long piece of parchment before handing it over to Sirius. "It's from Moody. I got one as well." James explained as Sirius opened the parchment and his eyes scanned the hastily scrawled words.

"An Auror?" He asked himself, reading the words again – if Sirius survived this fight, they Mad-Eye wanted him to join the ranks of Auror, and Sirius could honestly say that he was extremely honoured.

The four of them sat in silence for awhile after Sirius had sent a patronus to Dumbledore as they each went over there own thoughts and feelings in their minds. Eventually, Lily and Hermione traipsed upstairs leaving him and James alone downstairs.

"This is mental." James breathed, running a hand through his spiky hair, "I can't believe this…It's mental…" He repeated again and Sirius nodded in agreement.

"James, can you do me a favour?"

"Anything, mate."

"Can you put a bloody shirt on?"

* * *

That night, Sirius and Hermione had laid together between the blue sheets and talked about absolutely everything from Sirius' families to their biggest fears, their arms tight around each other, their legs entangled until the sun peaked above the horizon and Hermione's eyelids dropped, her head on Sirius chest, listening to his heartbeat.

_10__th__ June 1978_

When Sirius woke up that morning it was to shouting coming from downstairs and a loud crash. Sirius had jumped out of bed, wand in hand and ran out to the landing to see that it was Peter yelling and James and Remus were both trying to get them to calm down.

"Peter, I'm sorry, I didn't –"

"You lied to me!" Peter yelled back and Sirius stowed his wand in the waistband of his black cotton pyjama pants and made his way downstairs. "All this time…All this time…"

"Peter, you're being dramatic." Remus said calmly, his palms facing Peter in a non-threatening manner and Peter's face was red with anger, his fists clenched at his sides. "They couldn't tell us because it would put us in danger –"

"Rubbish!" Peter spat, "if they wanted to keep up out of danger then they wouldn't want us to fight! It doesn't make sense!"

"Peter, we need you, as our friend to help us –"

"Or you mean your puppet." Peter interrupted, "I won't do it, James. I won't." And with that he left out the front door. Sirius and James ran together to get to him, but Peter was running quickly, to fast for Sirius and James to reach him and as soon as he reached the protective barriers of the house, he apparated out.

When Sirius and James got back they found Remus slumped over the kitchen table, Lily flittering about the room preparing coffee and a worried frown on her face. "Well, that went well." Remus said sarcastically, rubbing a hand over his face – the full moon was coming up.

"We can't force him to do anything," Lily said, wringing her hands, "he doesn't want to fight, so we can't make him."

"He's supposed to be our friend." James frowned and sat opposite Remus, "I didn't know he was a coward."

"James. You know he isn't." Lily reprimanded, frowning at her fiancée.

James sighed and hung his head, tugging on his red and gold jumped. "I know." He said softly.

"Dumbledore sent a patronus earlier, Sirius. We have to go to the Hogshead in about half an hour and he wants your little gang to be there as well." Lily told him, not unkindly, and walked past him, her shoulder brushing his…Well, upper arm. "I'll go wake up Hermione." And she walked up the stairs, hand on the black banister, disappearing up onto the landing.

"I'll fight." Remus said from his seat, looking slightly uncomfortable, "of course I will."

James, it was obvious, had gathered Remus and Peter and apparated them here (well, he and Lily as she and Hermione where the only ones who could apparate in and out of the boundaries) and told them everything. Peter hadn't taken it well.

Sirius sent a talking patronus to the Vine House to let the others that Dumbledore wanted to see them and he watched his silvery dog fly from the end of the wand. He was glad that Quinton had taught them all how to do this enchantment. Hermione shuffled into the room and absently took the coffee mug that Remus offered her and took a sip and Sirius stood just behind her, his hands closing around the wooden slats on the back of the chair, leaning his weight foreword.

00000

Half an Hour later, they were at the Hog's Head along with many more witches and wizards then before and he was pleased to see that Quinton was among the familiar faces. They were going over the plans, but Sirius was well-informed. It hadn't changed except that Quinton would help Etelani hopefully freeze the enchantments so the Death Eaters couldn't get out of Malfoy Manor and that they would have reinforcements behind the group going foreword to fight Voldemort in case the Death Eaters did break through. Sirius looked at the many faces of witches and wizards willing to give their lives to this cause and his grip tightened automatically around Hermione's waist, deep wrenching fear at the thought of her fighting, but he couldn't stop her. She was Hermione, enough said.

After the plans had been laid foreword, Dumbledore requested that a picture be taken to document this, for future reference, win or loose (though everyone wished desperately for the former) and they all agreed, lining up at the back of the pub, Sirius in between Hermione and James, his arms slung around both of them, looking calm and composed when really, inside he was fighting a battle with himself. Next to Hermione stood Regulus, looking an exact duplicate of him in his posture as he took Hermione's hand. Sirius realised that he should have been jealous, when really he wasn't – he knew that it was completely platonic between them and he didn't hold any resentful feelings for his little brother. Not anymore. He watched with slight amusement as Hagrid fought to get the back of their little gathering and Flitwick stood directly in front of him, not even reaching Hermione's waist as the camera went off, capturing the iconic moment that showed the Order of the Phoenix. Willing to fight to the end and not give in. Behind him, he heard Morgan expel a harsh breath and the soothing tones of Etelani reached his ears and he grinned – Morgan might just be moving on after all.

00000

Severus felt his left eye twitch unattractively as Potter leaned himself into Lily, whispering in her ear as the picture was taken and he felt a need to talk to her, to make her see…

But he didn't have to. She whirled around as soon as the flash died down and poked him hard in the chest. "You made me believe that you were a Death Eater when it wasn't strictly true?" She practically shrieked and Severus actually hung his head in shame – he had wanted to tell her, but hadn't had the courage to, plus he didn't want to see her in danger. "God, Severus, I thought you had some faith in me!" Severus was very aware of the pairs of eyes that had landed on them, watching their little argument and he felt his skin flush slightly pink.

"I didn't…Lily, I tried…I can't –" He was saved from having to find the words when Lily launched herself into his arms, winding her arms tightly around his torso, her chin on his shoulder and he froze not knowing what to do…he hadn't been this close to Lily in years and he wanted to relish in the contact, but at the same time, he knew that she wasn't his and that she would never be. So he didn't return the hug and instead, stood stone-still and when Lily pulled back, a confused look on her face he moved away, heading for the door. He glanced one last look over his shoulder before disappearing in a swirl of billowing black robes, leaving his heart behind.

00000

"What do you want to do?" Hermione asked him, leaning into his side as he pulled her close with an arm around her waist.

"I have a few things in mind." He grinned wolfishly and Hermione felt her stomach twist for two reasons – one, he looked so attractive to her right then, and two, she was slightly afraid. "Oi, Prongs!" He yelled and the messy-haired boy turned at the shout, a gleam in his hazel eyes.

"Yeah, Padfoot?" He asked back, but Hermione knew that James knew exactly what Sirius wanted.

"You ready?" He asked, and took out his wand with a flourish. Together, they waved their wands in synch and everyone was watching them wearily, apprehending what was going to happen.

Immediately outside, they were cries of outrage and anger and Hermione ran to the small, dingy table to see that everyone seemed frozen in place, their feet seemingly stuck to the floor. Many people were tugging on their legs, trying to get them to move and one man fell over, causing everything else to be stuck. "When I catch who did this, I swear to Merlin I'll tear them another one!" The man cried, trying desperately to get back up. Behind her, Sirius and James were roaring with laughter and leaning against each other for support, their laughter only increasing when someone else fell over trying to move.

Hermione's lips curled up at the end, but she tried to look stern as rounded on the trouble makers. "This is not funny!" But her tone gave her away and she found herself laughing.

It really wasn't that funny, she thought, but as she heard the man cursing again, the laughs spilled past her lips seemingly out of her control and she was aware that other people was laughing as well, and she was half-surprised to see McGonagall laughing beside them all.

She took a moment to look at them all, at Thoma and Matthew as they chuckled together quietly, and Rayne and Xenophilius who tried not to laugh, at Megara and Kara as they high-fived, talking about the ingeniousness of the plan (which Hermione thought didn't have that much oomph behind it like their previous ones had, but it was still funny), Remus and Carrie Green were grinning towards the back, The other various witches and Wizards that she didn't know whose lips kept twitching as they tried not to laugh at the immaturity, Hagrid pounding his fist against the room, making the whole foundation shake, Dumbledore smiling softly, Quinton giggling like he'd just consumed ten Fire Whiskeys and Lily and James were now stood next to each other, hands entangled as he pressed a kiss to her bright red hair.

Then her eyes went to Sirius, as if magnetized there and he was looking at her, with such a heated look that it made her insides melt and her heart flutter – these were her friends, to a extent her family. She heard Morgan and Regulus chuckling as well and she realised that it wasn't the prank that was making everyone laugh – it was the need to laugh. Their laughs were turning border-line hysterical and it was as if everyone was seizing this last chance to laugh, in case they didn't make it through to tomorrow.

00000

Their lips pressed together incessantly, their tongues tangled just perfectly as they stroked each other, his hands bunched at her waist, his fingertips feeling the silky skin below. He groaned, his back scratching against the bark of the tree he was leaning against, his witch straddling his hips, her hands pressed to his chest, her fingers skimming the buttons of his navy button down, teasing him.

"Hermione," he groaned, her name all that he was able to coherently think and he raised his knees behind her, pressing his feet flat to the floor, his arms wrapping around her, keeping her safe, protecting her from the world.

She hummed in response and tilted her head, pressing kisses down his neck and across his jaw, pressing her tongue against his pulse point and he groaned in response, shifting his hips so she could tell how appreciative he was of her and she gasped against his skin. His senses mixed and his stomach tied itself in a knot at the feel of her chest pressed to him, her breathing ghosting across his skin and he peppered below her ear, which was the only place he could reach. "Home?" He gasped and she tightened his grip on him, pressing her lips to him, coaxing them open while twisting slightly.

Sirius had never apparated while kissing and it was a strange sensation – like he was being thrown off a cliff, but he couldn't be bothered to care, not with her so close, twisting her tongue so delicately…

They landed on Hermione's bed with a gasp and he leaned his weight on his elbow by her head, not wanting to crush her with, but their kiss didn't break – in fact, it grew fiercer and more desperate as thoughts of impending doom filled their minds and they became desperate for physical contact.

They stripped each other furiously, their hands running over available inch of skin as he pressed into it, rocking his hips, grasping her thighs around his hips and his eyes rolled as the cold stone of the onyx necklace she bought him a while ago for his birthday fell against her collarbone and he sucked on the exposed skin of her throat until they both came undone, loosing all thought as stars exploded behind her closed eyelids and she keened like a cat, writing beneath him and he nearly lost it again.

He stilled her actions, laying her legs flat, not moving from her fire and he pressed his forehead to hers, slowly moving his hips. This time, it was more about the contact then striving for another climax. Neither knew how long they were laid together, forehead to forehead, chest to chest, hips to hips, palm to palm, eye to eye, their legs entwined together. His heart felt like it took up to much room in his chest as he gazed down at her and he knew that if he didn't keep touching her, kissing her, holding her then he would die and that wasn't an exaggeration. He needed her, it was quite pathetic really.

He knew, that if she…He clenched his eyes shut tight at the thought of her dying, but if it _were _to happen…

…He would move on.

It felt a bit like a betrayal to him, but last night in their solitude, she had demanded that if anything happen to her, he was to go on with life.

How could he when she was his life?

"I love you." He gasped out, pressing his forehead more incessantly into hers, rubbing his nose against hers. "So much."

She reached up and kissed him, whispering between the precious brushes of lips that she loved him too and that was his undoing.

He gathered her close and, through his pants of air, he whispered broken verses of love and devotion, meant for her ears only and she practically melted in his arms, knowing that she would remember this until the day she died.

Which she hoped wouldn't be tomorrow.

00000

They spent the rest of the night with the rest of the Gryffindor's, all gathered in her and Lily's living room, exchanging amusing stories and telling jokes, drinking Butterbeer and eating sweets, but they all felt the emptiness from where Peter should be sitting, joining in the conversation and Hermione actually wished he was there, because it would make this night perfect.

Hermione sighed and leaned into Sirius's side, closing her eyes wearily as Thoma (whose hair was grey) launched into a prank that Sirius and James had performed on her in third year and Hermione listened to Sirius' heartbeat, hoping that that, ant everybody else's would keep beating for many, many years.

_A/N: Oh, my God we are so close to the end now I can taste it! I'm sad to say goodbye to this story, but I'm happy that it's coming to an end…Only two chapters left! _

_Oh, and thankyou to **KS **you're review was lovely and I wish I could reply!_

_I hope you like it :D_

_Kelly_

_xxx_


	59. The Battle and the Betrayal

**Disclaimer: **_I do not own anything HP related, oh and a line in this story is actually owned by Stephen King or the writer's of Stand By Me, which is an amazing film._

**Weight of the World**

**Chapter 59**

_June 11__th__ 1978_

The sunlight pooled over the sheets, causing the woman's eyes to slowly peel open, blinking ferociously in the onslaught of light. Behind her, her companion groaned and rolled over, the arm that was wrapped around her waist moving as he rubbed at his head.

"Morning." She said barely above a whisper, turning onto her back, reaching a hand up to cup his cheek in greeting. He looked down at her impassively, not even bothering to give her a facial expression as he climbed out of bed, reaching for his clothes, disappearing into the bathroom. She felt anger rise up but pushed it down harshly, getting up as well as she searched for her underclothes that were thrown in various ways around the room, dressing quickly and glancing in the mirror, noting that her hair looked like a birds nest on top of her head and she cursed her extremely curly hair, grasping her wand's handle and hastily applying a spell (that she had been intending to tell Hermione when they got on closer terms) and watched as her hair fell down in waves, reaching her hips.

"I'm sorry." She turned around at the voice and looked impassively at Morgan, who was leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed over his chest, looking away from her, staring out the window.

"Why?" She asked, turning her full body to face him, placing her hands on her hips over the wrinkled purple dress she had on. "Why are you sorry?"

"It was a mistake. We never should have –"

She cut him off with a scoff and moved closer to him, getting into his personal space. "Why shouldn't we? I like you, you like me, why not?" She poked him hard in the chest, feeling her irritation rise.

"Because I don't love you." He said simply, coldly, "I never will and I don't want you to think I could have room for you in my heart, because I really don't."

She narrowed her dark eyes at him, "because of a dead witch who you'll never see again?" She hissed and she didn't expect the blow to her face, although, looking back, she really should have done. Her head snapped to the side and she was suddenly pressed against the wall, his arm across her collarbone, immobilising her.

He looked angry – no, furious. "You have no right! No right to talk about her like that!" He bellowed, his grip on her wrists tightening.

Etelani looked at him pityingly and ignored the stinging in her cheek, "she's gone, Morgan. She's gone." She said slowly and clearly, keeping eye contact with him and she saw the conflicting emotions cross his face as he took in her words. "She isn't coming back. I'm sorry, I really am, but she isn't here and…" She swallowed in hesitation, but pressed on. "I am."

Her words seemed to act on him and she saw emotions, guilt, anger, drain out of his gaze and before she could smile, his lips were pressed against her, desperately seeking something that she was willing to give to him and he picked her up, carried her and they tumbled to the bed, stripping each other again as he practically devoured her – and she enjoyed it.

* * *

Voldemort was livid. He knew the Horcrux was a fake, he could tell the instant that he set his eyes on the replica locket as Severus spluttered and shuddered behind him, trying to fight off the after effects of the potion. He was at least somewhat prepared as he grasped the water battle beneath his robes and took large gulps, almost draining it empty. The helpless feeling enclosed around him again for a moment before he was roughly yanked to his feet, Voldemort's long fingers around the tops of his arms as he was shaken vigorously, Voldemort demanding to know if he knew about this.

He wasn't quite sure what happened between the interrogation and being thrown in the boat, but he was suddenly being squeezed through a pipe as they apparated and he fell to his knees – he was so disorientated he didn't even see the first spell fly over their heads and aim for Malfoy Manor, hitting the protective enchantments and he watched dazedly as it looked like a dome appeared around the majestic home.

They couldn't be here already, surely? This was happening to soon, to quick, not enough time…

He had to move, to get away from the onslaught of spells that he could see, the bright jets of light aiming straight for the Dark lord, but didn't hit, a shield charm appeared around him and he roared, a ring of fire erupting around him…He couldn't move, his mind was foggy, heavy…

Arms wrapped around his waist and hauled him upright and he almost tripped over his own feet as he was lead away, half dragged from Voldemort, who was being engulfed by the flames, his cry of outrage echoing around him and he was dropped unceremoniously to the floor onto his back.

"What -?" He tried to speak, but his throat felt tight, constricted and his chest felt as if metal bands had closed around it, making his breathing hard. He gasped involuntarily when a face appeared above him, the bright green eyes unmistakable and he tried not to cry, remembering the thoughts as he took the potion, that she hated him, despised him…

"What have they done?" She asked, but her lips weren't moving in synch with her voice and another face joined Lily's – Potters'.

"Snape, what happened?" He yelled a desperate tone to his voice and he had no idea…Why weren't they fighting Voldemort? What was happening? Had they won already? Surely not.

But it was silent he realised…There was no cries from Voldemort anymore and instead there was a gentle murmur lifting from the Order members…He struggled onto his side to see a figure slumped on the floor, the black robes charred and smoking...Death Eaters on the other side of the gate, pounding on their own protective charms that were working against them…

He rolled onto his back to look at Lily and James and what happened next happened in slow motion. From behind James Potter, he saw a figure dressed in black rise up slowly, a black mask over his face and his wand held aloft, pointing straight at Potter's back.

"Down!" He yelled as time rushed back and he sat up quickly, ignoring the dizziness and grasping James' shoulder, pulling him down and rolling them, just as the spell scorched the floor where James had been sat momentarily. "It's a trap!"

And chaos erupted.

* * *

"They knew!" Sirius seethed to Remus as he ducked another spell, firing his own at the Death Eater, watching with satisfaction as he crumpled to the floor, out for the count. "Somebody betrayed us!" He yelled as he threw a protective shield in front of Rayne, who smiled in thanks before turning and ducking a spell at the same time, Xenophilius just behind her, fighting his own Death Eater.

Remus shot a spell at Alecto Carrow, who had lost her mask in battle, and she bared her teeth at him, the Killing Curse on the tip of her tongue, but he got their first, cutting her down with a simple 'Stupefy'. Around them, every Order member was locked in battle and Remus had almost tripped over the Dead Body of Benjy Fenwick and he felt for the small wizard, but didn't have time to mourn as Antonin Dolohov tried to slash him.

It was terrifying, fighting for your life. The battle at Rayne's wedding had been tough and hard, but this one…This one was even worse. Dumbledore wasn't here, was nowhere to be seen and he hadn't been at the Hog's Head either earlier that morning as they went over the plan a final time. Beside him, he watched as Carrie Green took a curse, the spell slashing at her skin as scarlet blood poured from the wound and her hazel eyes rolled in the back of her head as her legs fell from beneath her and she crashed to the cold ground her wand rolling away from her fingertips, never to be used by her again.

All around him, explosions went off, shaking the floor, making it hard to keep a stance and aim their spells correctly and the floor was slick with blood from the many who had fallen, Order members and Death Eaters alike.

"We need to figure out who it was!" Sirius shouted above the noise.

"What's the point?" He shouted back, but before Sirius could respond, Hermione ran up to them, grasping Sirius hand, shaking it, trying desperately to tell him something.

"What is it, Hermione?" He asked, one hand going to cup her cheek, staining her skin with his red-polished palm as he had tried to staunch a wound in Caradoc Dearborn, but it was in vain as the old wizard slid away from them.

"It was Peter!" She gasped, tears falling from her eyes and Remus felt his world stop for a moment – Peter, dear little Peter Pettigrew had been the one to betray them?

Sirius gaped at her like a fish out of water before Bellatrix Black appeared; a sneer on her face and a curse on her wand. Sirius pulled Hermione to the ground and covered her body with his own, cradling her head with his arm as he pressed gentle kisses on her face. It was an intimate moment between the two of them and Remus felt that he should look away and he fired a spell at the Black cousin as she laughed in glee. She whimpered and glared at him, raising her wand again, but was struck in the back by a jet of purple light and she fell to the floor to reveal little tiny Filius Flitwick.

"How do you know?" Remus yelled at Hermione as Sirius spat on his cousin.

Hermione shook and wiped her face with her sleeve, "Voldemort just taunted us with it before he killed…He killed…Sirius, he killed Morgan." She bawled and Remus watched as Sirius closed his eyes in silent grief, a muscle in his jaw jumping as he clenched it shut.

"So Voldemort didn't fall." Remus said dejectedly as he rubbed his tired eyes, trusting Sirius to have his back as he was momentarily vulnerable. "Hermione, we won't win this." Remus said sadly.

"No, he didn't. He knew about the ambush we had planned and set up a shield charm to protect him from harm and the ring of fire was to deflect the Unforgivable's…Sirius we can't retreat. We can't."

"I know." Sirius said soothingly. A mighty crash sounded from behind them and Remus looked to see Hagrid throw Goyle into the stone wall of the surrounding wall of Malfoy Manor; he saw Antonin Dolohov, who had rejoined the battle, fall under Filius Flitwick's hands; Thoma and Matthew brought down Rodolphus LeStrange with a scream; Minerva McGonagall captured Lucius Malfoy and Xenophilius easily took down Rosier without breaking a sweat as he performed a pirouette as a long, golden stream of light flew from the tip and wrapped around the Death Eaters neck.

It was madness – pure and utter madness, but what really took him by surprise and anger was who he saw fighting Voldemort himself: James, Lily and Regulus were at war with the Dark Lord, who was beating them down spell for spell, laughing at their incompetence. He threw a spell at James and it skimmed his shoulder, tearing his flesh and Remus reacted on instinct, doing something both incredibly brave and incredibly stupid: He ran towards them, vaulted over a pile of fallen Death Eaters and his shoulder landed roughly with Voldemort's ribs…It was a foolish, stupid move, but it had the desired effect – they both went sailing through the air and hit the ground hard, the wind knocked out of them.

Behind them, he heard his friend's cries of horror and outrage as he struggled to his feet, wand held in front of him and he staggered back as Voldemort hit him with a glare so filled with fury that if looks could kill, Remus' skin would have been flayed off.

"Now…What do we have here?" Voldemort whispered as he got to his feet easily, snapping his long, spidery fingers and his wand jumped into his hand, purple sparks flying from the tip. "A werewolf dare to attack me?" He hissed, gliding closer to Remus. He scrambled back, terror turning the blood in his veins to ice as his stomach twisted. His heel caught something behind him and he fell backwards, his head hitting the ground, causing his eyes to not focus for a second as a jet of green light sailed over his head, striking an unknown Order Member in the back.

The spell had been meant for him and this fall had saved his life. He looked at what he had stumbled on, crab-walking away but he froze when the lifeless brown eyes of Morgan stared unseeingly at him, blood running from a deep cut on his temple.

"Remus! Remus, move!" Someone was shouting, screaming, but he could barely move, could barely get away…

"Crucio!" A tremendous pain took over his whole body and it launched a scream from his lips as he collapsed to the ground, trembling as he curled in a ball, trying to get away.

Then it stopped and somebody was grasping his elbows, pulling his backwards, away, talking frantically, stumbling. Remus tried to help, to get his feet underneath him, but his legs had seemed to turn to jelly.

He was helpless and he had no idea if whoever had him was a Death Eater or an Order Member, a friend or foe – but at this point in time, he was so cold and so tired and he just wanted to rest…

His eyes closed and all he saw was darkness.

* * *

James watched in horror as Remus threw himself physically at Voldemort and then in horror as he was struck with the Cruciatus curse and he screamed – he had heard Remus scream and yell in pain before, as had everyone who went to Hogsmeade as he transformed into a werewolf but this…This was different. It was dark magic that was causing the scream and it took all that James had inside him to not echo Remus' earlier action and launch himself at the Dark Wizard.

But then Peter was there, and anger filled his vision. He was screaming, running across the battlefield, his eyes set on the thrashing form of Remus and this time he could not stop himself…He had heard from Voldemort's icy tone about Peter's betrayal and he had lost all respect for the mousy boy who he had befriended in first year and he aimed his wand at the moving figure just in time to see the small boy throw himself in the Cruciatus' curse path, taking the pain for Remus.

He faltered and stared for a moment, but only that. A streak of bright, vibrant red ran past him and he instinctively reached for his fiancée, but she slipped from his grasp and he followed without question, knowing that he had to protect her from any harm. Together, the two of them latched onto Remus' elbows and dragged him backwards as Hermione and Sirius grabbed Morgan and carried him away from harm.

"James, James, what do we do?" Lily asked, tears pouring from her eyes as she latched her bright green eye on Remus' figure, his limbs were twitching slightly in his grasp.

"I don't know…Lily, it'll be okay, it'll be fine…" He tried to reassure her and he longed to hold her and comfort her, but there wasn't time, no time. Together, they carefully laid Remus down behind a small barricade that Minerva McGonagall had managed to conjure and made room for Morgan as Hermione and Sirius softly laid him down on the cold, hard ground.

"What are we supposed to do?" Sirius asked, crouching beside Morgan's head, sliding his eyes shut.

Hermione straightened her shoulders and looked directly at them, "we save Peter." She said determinedly.

"Hermione, he betrayed us." Lily said softly, running her hands gently through Remus' sandy coloured hair.

"But he saved Remus." Hermione said, "there must be a reason, he must still care –"

"Come out, come out, wherever you are…" The voice struck terror in James' heart and halted Hermione's words as they all tensed up, on alert, ready for the attack. "Hermione Granger…I can see you!" A loud crack could be heard above the sound of fighting and screams and they whirled around to see Voldemort, twirling his wand in fingers, looking bored. "Do you know how long it's taken me to corner you?" He stared at Hermione, his red eyes glowing menacingly as Sirius stepped in front of her protectively as James shoved Lily behind himself.

"You wont touch her," Sirius growled low in his throat and Voldemort rolled his eyes before flicking his wand and Sirius was thrown to the side as if he was little more then a rag doll.

"Won't I, Mr. Black? I doubt that you could stop me!" He yelled, his wand back, getting ready to say the curse and James had to think fast, knowing that a jet of green light was about to hit his best friend, his _brother, _full on the chest and he needed to stop it…

"Master!" Voldemort's eyes flickered to the side slightly to see Regulus, clutching a wound on his stomach, a look of pain in his eyes. "Master, do not harm them. What's done is done." He said weakly, panting heavily.

Voldemort blinked in surprise before turning his body towards his young apprentice, a look of both anger and understanding in his eyes. "I am sensing some family loyalty here, young Regulus." He said softly and Regulus shrugged one shoulder, his robe falling down it slightly to reveal a jagged cut. Behind him, Lily gasped and covered her mouth with her hand, her ruby ring glinting in the sun – it was strange that the sun would be shining on this dreadful day.

Regulus then said three words that James would agree with, one of the only times in his life that he could say that he agreed with a Slytherin: "He's my brother." Voldemort paused and gazed at Regulus in thought, his head tilted slightly and he was so immersed in Regulus' request to save him brother that he missed the spell that Hermione whispered under her breath and the red spell hit Voldemort on his side, though his didn't seem effected by it and his head snapped to the Muggle-born.

"You're no better then the filthy Half-Breed who tried to attack me earlier! You've been a thorn in my side for far to long, Kingsley – I'm sorry, Granger." He snarled.

From behind the great billowing figure, another spell hit Voldemort in the back and he twisted his head on instinct to see Severus Snape, who had rejoined the fight long ago, stood there, wand held aloft.

"Snape! You are the traitor!"

Another spell from Regulus' wand struck him in the shoulder. "And me." Suddenly, Thoma was beside him, a spell on her lips and a jet of purple light from the tip of her wand and that to, hit the Lord. Voldemort didn't know who to strike down first and James joined his friends as Rayne and Xenophilius also joined them as did Megara and the rest of the Order appeared and each had a curse to yell. A few stayed behind to battle the remaining Death Eaters, but that number was minimal compared to the Order Members that surrounded the remaining Dark Wizard. James could see that the constant running of the spells was wearing down not only Voldemort, who was breathing harshly as he tried to deflect the spells and shoot a few of his own, but also the Order Members as they put all of their power in their spells, hoping that the combined effort would be enough to bring him down.

Then Sirius was there beside Hermione, a cut on his forehead, but otherwise unharmed with a teal coloured spell shooting at the half-man which turned his skin a sickly shade of green and caused him to have clown make-up. Hermione shot him a look over her shoulder but Sirius shrugged and exchanged glances with James, who wasn't surprised that Sirius had got his own revenge in his prankster ways.

"This is not the end! I will live on!" Voldemort warned, a sweat breaking out on his forehead.

"No, you won't Tom," James (and practically everybody else) looked around to see Dumbledore striding towards him, hands behind his back, his pink robes swirling around his ankles. The distraction of the appearance of Dumbledore was all that Voldemort needed and he crouched down before standing quickly, producing a gust of wind that knocked everybody down and James quickly scrambled off of Lily, hefting her against his chest and shuffling them backwards.

Voldemort laughed shrilly, "you may have the locket and the Ring, but what else, old man?" He asked, his tongue flicking out to dampen his lips, "You don't know what the others are!" He laughed.

"But I do. With help, all of your Horcruxes have been vanquished; the diary, the Diadem and the Cup as well as the Locket and Ring. It's over, now. Even if you get away from this fight you are to weak to go on – you may as well give in now because you're finished." Dumbledore said softly and Voldemort shuddered, his eye twitching.

"Never." He hissed, holding his wand up, the killing curse on the tip of his tongue…

"_Avada Kedavra!" _James watched in both shock and horror as the body fell to the floor, the wand falling from the limp fingers, rolling onto the grassy floor. There was a moments silence, calm as everybody stared from one body to the next, staring at the still standing figure who had a look of sadness in his eyes as he to dropped his wand…

Then chaos erupted for the second time that day.

* * *

Sirius wrapped his arm around Hermione's waist and lifted her high into the air, spinning them around a number of times as triumphant cheers pierced the air around them, clapping and stamping as the remaining Death Eaters were rounded up (Bellatrix looking furious) and Malfoy Manor was ransacked, Lucius and Narcissa (Who had gotten married last year) were recovered from the wing of the house that they had been banished to as the Dark Lord made his plans. They would most properly be granted a release as they had not played an active part in the plans, despite the Dark Mark etched into Lucius' skin.

"We did it! We did it!" She cried joyously, cupping his face in his hands as she pressed her lips to his, one filled with a promise for a future. One filled with love and devotion and it was slow, it was slow and deep because they had _time. _

Sirius had not lived in a world where there was no fighting and now, finally, they could and the feeling was so intense, the relief so strong that it made him forget about the pain his body and the fear coursing through his veins – until he remembered Peter.

It seemed that Hermione had either read his mind or had the same thought at the same time because they shared a look of horror before hurrying towards Peter's body, their hands clasped – no way was he ever letting go of her again. Never.

They collapsed to their knees beside Peter, whose eyes were clenched shut and he was panting, his body trembling. "Peter," Sirius said softly, resting his free hand on Peter's forehead.

"Sir'us?" He asked, trying to open his eyes but they seemed to be weighted down with lead. "Didn't…Sorry…I – angry – no choice…"

"There's always a choice, Peter. Always." He said angrily and Peter tried to shake his head, reaching his blood stained hand up for Sirius' shoulder as James and Lily dropped to their knees beside them, Remus clutched between them.

"No…Und'sta'd – they made me. Tied me…Tortured…Wouldn't say, no…Impe…Didn't wor…" He coughed, blood spilling from his lips, staining his teeth and Hermione released his hand (he tried to stop the swell of panic) and turned Peter's head to the side, tears spilling from her eyes matching the ones falling from his own grey ones. "Verit…Truth serum…I couldn…Fight it…I tried." He coughed again, "Love you…Guys."

"Don't do that." Sirius said angrily, now seeing the cuts and bruises across his face and exposed arms. "Don't talk like you're saying goodbye." But it was useless. He was already gone.

Sirius leaned back on his haunches, trying to not let the black hole of despair swallow him whole as he looked at one of his best friends, who looked so peaceful– no more timid looks, no more flinches of pain as he came home form the Summer holidays, bruises littered down his side from his abusive father and uncaring mother, no more laughter, jokes, adventures as the Marauder's, because the Marauder's were no more.

Peter wasn't ill. Peter wasn't sleeping. Peter was dead.

* * *

Hermione looked away from Peter, not being able to stomach it. She could have saved him, if only she had stopped him running away from her home, stopped him and explained to him, maybe if she had told him her secret, he would still be here. In the distance, cheers and laughter rent through the air and Hermione had to look away from the partiers as well, the ones who had escaped unscratched and who hadn't lost anybody.

She looked to the barricade where they had been seated only moments before where someone was wrapping up Voldemort's fallen body and Hermione stood shakily, brushing her hand through Sirius' hair light, who didn't seem to notice, to focused on the fallen body of his friend as she unsteadily made her way towards Dumbledore.

"Miss Kingsley." He said softly, his wand held aloft as white wrappings spilled from the ends, wrapping Voldemort. "I am glad to see you alive." He said softly, "Quinton and I feared that you wouldn't make it." He looked at her then, his pale blue eyes alight with pain and hurt.

"I almost didn't." She admitted quietly, avoiding the two bodies she was stood between, the re-run of Morgan's death on replay as he jumped in front of her, the green curse striking him, knocking his Death Eater mask off – she needed to find Etelani, although she wouldn't be surprised if the girl already knew. "Where is Quinton?" She had seen her Defence teacher and trusted friend during the battle, but didn't have time to speak to him as James pulled her swiftly along, telling her to find Sirius.

"In Malfoy Manor, figuring out who was a Death Eater by choice and who was one by force." The body of Voldemort was wrapped up and Dumbledore sighed, lowering his wand. "I didn't wish to strike Death upon him…I had hoped that he would give up."

"Voldemort never would." Hermione sighed, "Sir, I need to know – why did it take you so long to join the battle?"

Dumbledore chuckled, but it sounded hollow, empty. "Because I could not defeat him on my own. If I had joined the fray from the off, he would have gone straight for me and you would not have a chance to weaken him. He would have killed me, surely." He said softly, looking right at her again. "I didn't want you to feel as if you were being abondened."

"You didn't." She said, her brown eyes sliding involuntarily to Morgan and was aware of Regulus crouched over his friend's body. "Excuse me." Dumbledore nodded and touched his fingertips lightly to the corpse, disappearing with a loud 'pop'.

"Regulus, you're hurt." She said softly, reaching for his shoulder and he looked up at her in slight surprise, as if he hadn't realised that she was there.

"Nothing I can't handle." He shrugged, looking back at Morgan.

"He was very brave." Hermione said, realising the implications of Morgan's death – Blaise Zabini would never be born as he and Etelani never had a chance.

"Guess he was in the wrong house then." Regulus chuckled, but like Dumbledore's before him, it sounded forced.

"So were you." Hermione said with conviction, her hand brushing his cheek lightly and Regulus smiled before standing slowly, ignoring the twinge of pain in his stomach as he grabbed his wand and pushed it past his clothes.

"You're gonna be a great Sister-in-law." He told as he wound healed, as if being stitched back together by an invisible needle and thread and Hermione smiled, doing the same for his shoulder. "Tell Sirius I'm sorry about Peter – I have to find Etelani." He nodded, sounding formal and turned on his heel, heading for the cheering people.

Hermione looked back over to where her friends kneeled, but Sirius wasn't there. Fear immediately gripped her heart and she spun around quickly, only to walk directly into Sirius' chest, almost knocking her off course. He held her upright, his arms winding around her waist and his cheek to the top of her head.

He needed this, she realised, needed to comfort that she could provide and she gave it willingly, wrapping her arms around his neck and sliding into his slightly matted hair as s scream of pure pain rent through the air and she watched out the corner of her eye as Etelani fell to her knees beside Morgan, holding him close to her chest, her tears spilling onto his face. Hermione turned her head away from the heart wrenching sight and she hated that she was so grateful that it wasn't Sirius lying dead.

Sirius ushered them away quietly and quickly, offering Etelani the privacy that she needed but stayed within her sights – she had been so important to the plan and it was so pivotal around her, that Hermione had come to trust and even like the Slytherin girl.

"We have time, Hermione." He whispered brokenly to her temple, peppering little kisses across her skin and hairline, "Merlin, we have all the time we need."

* * *

The town was very busy this time of day, the dark haired man noted wryly, rubbing the back of his neck as he pushed past people, muttering apologises. He closed his eyes tightly in annoyance when his shoulder hit something hard and a cacophony of noise that sounded suspiciously like books falling to the floor and a quiet, _damn it _reached his hearing.

"Sorry about that," he said politely, turning to see who exactly he had walked into and was awestruck by the beauty that stood before him: her coffee coloured curls tumbled down her shoulders as she bent to retrieve the five books scattered across the floor and he rushed to help her, ignoring the mumbled protests of the other shoppers.

"Thankyou," she mumbled shyly and she looked directly up at him, her brown eyes warm and shining with happiness. "I'm Miranda."

"Hugo." He introduced himself as he stood up straight, offering her his hand. "Hugo Granger."

_A/N: Merry Christmas! This is Part 1 of my Christmas present!_

_I'm so sorry for not replying to your reviews – my computer is being really weird and won't let me respond properly. Thankyou so much for your reviews and I really appreciate them. _

_I hope you liked this chapter – I know that it's fast and some things may not add up and technically this story is finished – only the Epilogue left, but I was wondering…Well, I'm thinking of doing a follow up to this story, about the time between the last chapter (this one) and the Epilogue. Let me know you're thoughts! _

_Hope you have an amazing day and, if you don't celebrate Christmas, have a good day anyways!_

_Love you all!_

_Kelly_

_xxx _


	60. Epilogue

**Disclaimer: **_I don't own anything, not even the title which is owned by Evanescence. _

**Weight of the World**

**Chapter 60**

13th October 1997

Hermione awoke as the sunlight streamed through the gap in the pale blue curtains and she groaned lightly, turning her face further into the pillow beneath her head and mumbling incoherently.

"Morning, love." Sirius chuckled, kissing the back of her neck lightly as his arm tightened around his waist. "Today's a big day," he said quietly, sitting up slightly, resting his weight on his elbow behind him as he hovered over Hermione's form. Hermione sighed and rolled onto her back, lifting her hand to his cheek and brushing her thumb over his cheekbone. 18 years. They had known each other for 18 years and been married for 13 of them, the engagement ring on her finger glinting happily on her finger in the sunlight and she leaned up and pressed a closed kiss to his lips, just as the door to their room banged open revealing their eight year old daughter, Ysabelle.

They had been married for eight years when they adopted the tiny girl before them when she was just a baby whose parents had been killed in a rogue Death Eater attack and Hermione had instantly fell in love with the olive skinned baby with wispy brown hair and big clear green eyes.

"Daddy!" She cried and launched herself at the couple on the bed and Sirius picked her up with ease, placing her on his lap. "I want to watch a film! Can I watch a film?" She asked her eyes wide with excitement, her thick curls bouncing on her shoulders and Sirius chuckled.

"Of course you can, sweetheart. What do you want to watch?" He asked her gently, huddling her closer and Hermione felt her heart melt at the sight before her.

"Pocahontas!" She cried happily, squealing in happiness when Sirius nodded and raced out of the room, her laughter echoing along the walls. Sirius smiled at his daughter and climbed out of bed, stretching and Hermione couldn't stop staring at the muscles of his back and they were pulled taunt under his tight web of skin. Even in his thirties, Sirius still thrilled her in ways that no other man ever could or would get a chance to.

Hermione followed her husband's lead, climbing out of bed before racing into the bathroom before Sirius could blink, laughing at his quiet curses as he traipsed to the bathroom down the hall.

After washing quickly she went to her son's room, not at all surprised to see him laying on his bed with _Benny Kid _clutched in his hand, his eyes scanning the page quickly – Dean had been adopted by Sirius and Hermione a year after Ysabelle when he was nearly three and had been beaten by his parents so many times that he had been taken from them and landed in a care home. Sirius had taken one look at the poor boy and became determined for Dean to become his son.

"Hey, mum." He said, his eyes barely leaving the page of the comic in front of him.

"Morning, Ace. You planning on doing anything today?" Hermione asked, perching herself on the edge of his bed, smiling sweetly at the ten year old boy who's blonde hair was in spikes.

Dean shrugged, turning the page in his book. "Avoiding Ysabelle. She wants me to watch that Disney movie with her and no way is that happening." He said indignantly, turning the page, "I can't wait till I go to Hogwarts." He mumbled quietly and Hermione smiled before ruffling his hair, laughing when he ducked out the way and went back to his book.

"You watch, Dean, I'll make you a reader for life." She warned, pointing to the shelves against the wall and Hermione caught the title of one book _Time Rose _before Dean visibly shuddered. He hated reading big tombs of books filled with useless information, but if he was going to Hogwarts next year then he needed to be able to read them. She had until September 1st, she'd make it.

"Everyone knows that you're the ultimate reader mum." He smirked.

Hermione stood up and left her son to his comic as he flipped the page again, mumbling under his breath.

"He reading his comic?" Sirius asked behind her and Hermione turned to see Sirius in loose jeans, a tight black top and a towel slung around his shoulders, catching the droplets from the end of his long black hair.

"Of course. When does he never?"

"Well, he is a Brook Lucas Fan."

Hermione stared at him vacantly having never read the comics and having no idea what he was talking about. He shrugged his shoulder and pecked her on the forehead before making his way quietly to the living room to join his daughter.

Hermione was in the spacious kitchen, cooking breakfast quickly for her family when she heard Ysabelle's indignant cry of "Get off my carousel, Dean!" and shook her head, unaware that her son was even in the living room. She stuck her head around the doorframe and saw Sirius defusing the situation, a toy carousel in his hand and left him to it, trusting him to take care of the family spat.

"Mummy, when is Blaise Zambini coming around again?" Ysabelle asked and Hermione smiled at the thought of him – Due to Morgan and Etelani being together the night before the battle, she had landed herself pregnant with his child…Two years ahead of schedule, but still, better early then not at all.

"It's Zabini, not Zambini." She called to her daughter, "sometime next week, he's busy with his job at the minute, Ysabelle." The Blaise was so different from the Blaise that she went to school – he was cold, conceited, prejudiced whereas this one was kind, caring and polite, treating women right and with respect. And he was exceptionally handsome, which was a bonus.

"Breakfast is ready!" She called to her family and nearly laughed with the speed that they all got to the kitchen, piling food onto their plates. Hermione rolled her eyes and picked up her jacket, threading her arms through the sleeves and shrugging it on. "I'm off – have a good day, everybody." She said happily and, with a final kiss from Sirius, she left for St. Mungo's.

* * *

She apparated in the hospital, almost getting knocked down as someone over the speaker requested that Charlie Peach get to room 385 for a patient. She shook her head and made her way down the familiar path to the familiar room and knocked gently on the door and smiled when Thoma appeared, looking exactly as Hermione remembered. She had on a grey suit jacket over a white blouse and a grey suit skirt. She had tanned skin and big green eyes surrounded by thick, black rimmed glasses that suited her elegant face. Her brunette hair went halfway down her back and her side fringe swept across her forehead and bright orange heels adorned her feet.

"Hermione! Are you waking up yet?" She asked, stepping back and letting her past into the staff room where Lily and Kara were sat, talking animatedly to each other and Rayne was stood by the window a smile on her face. She had told everyone the truth about where she came from when she tried to stop Rayne from doing experiment in her home and saved her life. She had done it and Luna still had her mother at sixteen, but she was still as beautifully weird as she was back then. At first, no one had believed her except for Lily and to an extent, James, but it became obvious when she told them things that were going to happen, which then did – like the Goblin Revolution of 1986 and the birth of Draco Malfoy.

Draco Malfoy had become an amazing topic of conversation for the girls once she had told them that in her time before, he had been pretty much like Blaise used to be, only worse. Strutting around the castle like he thought he was the king and sneering at any one who he thought was lesser then him and used women like trash. Now though, he was in a relationship and had been for a long time with a girl called Avaline, who hoped to be become Avaline Malfoy in the future.

"Draco is a looker." Thoma said conversationally as she sat opposite Lily who raised her eyebrows. "He is. I speak only the truth."

"What would Matthew do if he heard you talk like that about a younger man?" Kara sniggered and turned her attention to Hermione. "Are you waking up?" She repeated Thoma's earlier question.

Hermione nodded, collapsing next to Thoma. "Yeah, and thank God – mine and Sirius' relationship seems to be suffering – so far I've called him a lying scumbag, a cheater and a Neanderthal."

"So I'm guessing that this Hermione isn't a fan of being back in time?" Rayne asked and Hermione shook her head.

"I just hope she listens to me," she said reaching foreword for the sparkly cupcake.

"No!" Thoma shouted, "that is the cupcake of Death!" Hermione stared at her in confusion and very slowly put it back down. "A moment on the lips, forever on the hips." She explained and Hermione rolled her eyes, not really caring about such trivial things as she was lucky enough to have Sirius as her husband, who she knew would love her always. "Anyways, I am the child of the gypsies –"

"-I'm waking up soon," Hermione said and gestured to Lily, who stood and walked with her to the door to the staff room, where they really weren't supposed to be. Together the best friends made their way to the Hospital room where Eighteen year old Hermione lay and she pushed the door open, not at all surprised to see that Harry and Ron where sat on either side of the bed, staring at the pale figure on the bed.

"Harry, Ron, come on, it's time for you to go back to Hogwarts," Lily said gently. Harry looked up brokenly and Hermione smiled at the smooth forehead that she saw – not a lightning shaped scar in sight.

"But Hermione –"

"Will be fine. Come on." Lily signalled again and Ron and Harry shared a look of utter annoyance with each other, "don't make me drag you out Harry James Potter!" Lily threatened and Harry and Ron took the threat, breezing past the pair of them, and Hermione caught snippets if what Ron was mumbling to Harry in a sarcastic tone. "Misty…Willow…Black…Snape…"

Thankfully, Hermione and Harry had become friends almost instantly on the train and Hermione herself had taken the liberty of introducing Harry to Ron at Kings Cross Station as well as herself to the Weasley Clan and her and Sirius were happily welcomed into their home and Sirius and Hermione together had leant the twins the money to start their joke shop in their sixth year, knowing that it would get paid back, which it had done, with interest and an offer for free merchandise whenever they wanted, which Sirius got a kick out of.

She was lucky really that everything happened pretty much the same way that it had before well, except for the obvious 'No Voldemort' but things like, in their first year her and Ron disliked each other straight away before becoming friends on Halloween, in their third year Crookshanks and Ron hated each other, in their fourth year the Triwizard tournament happened and Viktor Krum took Hermione to the Yule Ball, in their sixth year Ron and Lavender had their 'relationship' as did Harry and Ginny, and in this year the potion had exploded, sending her back to 1977.

Now that they had cleared Harry and Ron from the room, which was their main goal at the minute, Hermione and Lily were free to apparate back home for a few hours before they would be needed again and a silver giraffe galloped into the room telling her that she was about to wake – when Matt Corbin escaped from the psychiatric part of the hospital and attempted to kill her.

She spent those hours with her family before the silvery giraffe appeared and together, her and Sirius went to St. Mungo's after asking Remus to look after them, which he happily did, along with his own son, Peter, as his wife, Elizabeth was out of town visiting her sister.

They got there in time to watch as they carted Matt Corbin away, who was laughing hysterically to himself, his eyes bloodshot, his teeth a bright yellow and his hair matted and greasy.

Suddenly, Hermione couldn't breath, her lungs felt ready to explode and her throat felt tight. She tried to gasp, but couldn't inhale and she clutched desperately at Sirius' jacket, who wrapped his arms around her, grasping his wand from his pocket frantically as Hermione's vision swam before her, multiplying into two as she failed to take a breath…

"_Ipse_!" Sirius cried, the tip of his wand against her chest and her lungs expanded as oxygen rushed down her throat.

"Thanks." She gasped, straightening up and Sirius sighed shakily, pulling her close.

"Anytime."

The three of them carefully made their way to her room, pushing open the door once the Healers had left to see her blinking sleepily at them, confusion settling on her face as she looked at Lily.

"C…Ginny?" She asked, seemingly out of it as she looked at Sirius, her eyebrows raising up her head. "What…Where am I?" She asked quietly, trying to pull the blankets off her legs and she struggled to her feet, but Sirius was there in a flash, hands on her shoulders, pushing her down. "Sirius?" She asked, obviously confused and her eyes flashed as she realised who the girls where.

"Hermione."

"Yeah, that's me." She said, steeping foreword and sitting beside her younger self on the bed, pleased when Sirius stepped back, allowing them to have a moment of privacy.

"I was…I was just –"

"You were in the past. February 1978." She answered, crossing her legs, "I know. I was there."

Hermione looked up and frowned at her, "You weren't. I've read the biography on you – you should be there when I am. Was." She grimaced in confusion as she learnt her head foreword.

"I am," She said honestly, resting her hand on her shoulder lightly, offering comfort. "You see, my name, my real name, is Hermione Granger, and I need you to do something for me," she said honestly and Hermione looked at her with both confusion and annoyance.

"What are you talking about?" She asked, anger seeping into her tone.

"Woah, you're turning into a fires spawn, aren't you?" Hermione said sarcastically and the younger Hermione looked ashamed.

"I'm sorry." She said quietly and Hermione nodded.

"You've read the biography so you know all about the Horcruxes, where they are, who to trust and I know you'll make the right choice," she said and ran a hand through her curly hair.

"How? You don't know me." Hermione said, but not unkindly.

"Because." Hermione said simply. "I am you."

Hermione shook her head in disbelief, "I must be dreaming." She mumbled quietly to herself. "Although I can't be dreaming while awake…"

"Not a dream, yet not a nightmare," Lily said in the background and Hermione smiled at her friend, eyebrow raised in their secret language that they had developed through their two years of living together and Lily winked in reply.

Hermione knew that it would take a lot to convince Hermione that yes, she was in fact her and that also, she needed to go back and fall in love with Sirius, because she was destined to. Together though, the three of them would be able to convince her – after all, if she was anything like Hermione it would be easy.

* * *

After the long, exhausting conversation that she had just had with the younger Hermione, Hermione was now walking the path of Hogwarts to get Snape's potion that he had made that now only needed Hermione's hair. She slipped easily into the dungeon and knocked on the door lightly. Severus looked up and smiled lightly at the time-traveller, who smiled back stepping in the potions classroom, staring at the place where she had been sent back in time.

"You convinced her, then?" He asked, standing from his chair and placing his quill on the desk beside the papers he had been making and went into his office for a moment, carrying a vial of yellow potion when he returned.

"Indeed. Didn't take long actually, once she had gotten over the shock of realising that I was her all along…Which is a little confusing." She scratched the back of her head and half shrugged before reaching for the vial. "Thanks, Severus, I owe you."

"Actually, Hermione, hold up." Severus said and disappeared back to the office and came back out with a bubbling, lilac potion and handed it to Hermione, slightly hesitant. "I've…Er, been working on this for years now. I've done it – who would have thought that the final ingredient would be water flower?" It was slightly endearing to see that Severus looked uncomfortable, his arms crossed over his chest and his big, black robes billowing around him, making him look menacing.

"Severus…What is it?" She asked, holding it to her nose, inhaling deeply. It smelt like sweet-tang-honey, a brand of honey her parents used to get when she was a child.

Young Hermione and Thoma were now at her parent's house with Quinton, erasing their memories. Hermione knew that it was cruel, but she (And she agreed with herself) thought it would be better this way, no pain on their part for the girl that they would never see again. After that, she was going to explain it all to Harry and Ron as she herself had done before – it was only fair that they know where their best friend was going. She remembered all to vividly saying goodbye to her best friends and knew that it would be harder this time round. Before, Hermione had something to go back to. This time, she doesn't. Not yet.

"It's a potion, Kingsley." Severus rolled his eyes at her and Hermione rolled hers to – he had never quite gotten out of the habit of calling her Kingsley.

"I gathered. What will it do?" She asked

"It's a project revolution, really. I didn't expect it to work, but I think it has –"

"Severus!" Hermione laughed, "what does it do?" She repeated and Severus blinked vacantly.

"It'll heal you." He said simply, leaning back against his desk, arms crossed over his chest. "I mean, you can't have kids and I know it slightly traumatised you, and I thought that you deserved a chance to –" He didn't get any further before Hermione literally threw herself at him, her arms wrapped tightly around his neck and he felt his skin flush lightly before awkwardly patting her on the head unsure what to do. When she pulled away, her eyes are wet with tears, making him feel even more uncomfortable.

"Thankyou." She said honestly, pressing a kiss to his cheek and his skin instantly heats up and he coughs into his curled fist, turning his back on the woman and waiting for his skin to cool before lowering himself into his seat and picking up his quill again.

"No problem," he says icily and carries on grading the papers. He hears the door close quietly and he smiled to himself – he could probably sell this stuff for a good profit, he thought to himself as he leaned back in his chair, he just hoped that it worked.

When Hermione got home after giving Quinton the potion to give to her younger self later that night when she got back from saying goodbye, the first thing she did was see her children. They were in bed and Ysabelle was clutching her stuffed cow, which was her pride and joy and so imaginatively called Miss Cow. She was surrounded by stuffed toys, Amrawo, Dozy Dora, Reina, bib and Becky Boo, most of them bought by Regulus and his wife Isabel Black.

She moved swiftly to her son's room and heard his soft snores before she saw him and she crept quietly into the room and the quilt was pulled so far up his body that the top of his head was the only thing visible. She chuckled quietly, placed her hand gently on the top of his head and hurried out of the room. She needed to see her husband.

She opened the door to their room quickly and felt her heart skip a beat when he saw that he was still awake, leaning against the headboard, his feet crossed at the ankles and his black sleep pants loose around his waist – he had no shirt on and Hermione felt herself fall in love with him all over again.

"Hey. Get the potion to yourself?" He asked, reaching his arm for her and she goes to him, as if being pulled magnetically and gets on the bed, straddling his hips and cupping his face, pulling him closer. Sirius groans and happily returns the kiss, running his hands up her thighs.

"Not that I'm complaining, love." He said, one hand cupping her jaw, "but where did this come from?" She smiled and rustled in his jacket pocket, her fingers latching around the top of the vial and showing it to him. "Beautiful!" He cried ecstatically, barely sparing it a glance as he leant up and pressed kisses against the exposed skin of her neck as he pressed his feet flat to the mattress and he moved his hips up and Hermione's eyes rolled slightly at the feel.

"Sirius…Do you know what this is?" She asked and Sirius mumbled incoherently against her skin. "Sirius, this is the answer to everything! Severus made it for us…It can fix me." She smiled happily and Sirius stopped mid kiss and slowly moved back, his eyebrows low on his forehead.

"There's nothing wrong with you," he growled, his protective streak showing and Hermione took one of his large gently in her small one, placing it on her stomach. His eyes widened in realisation and he looked at her hopefully. "Seriously?" He asked.

"If it works." She said and uncorked it, "but do you want a child this way? We are a bit old now." She said sadly and Sirius shook his head quickly. "A bit old? My love, we have our whole lives ahead of us!" He grinned and she returned it, holding the vial to her lips and letting the lilac concoction spill down her throat.

Her insides felt warm and tingly and settling in her stomach and it felt as if someone had put a hot water bottle on her skin and she winced as it scolded slightly. "Hermione?" Sirius asked in concern, running a hand through her curly hair, "what's happening?" Suddenly, it seemed as if something clicked inside her and it felt as if she had been doused in cold water and she shivered before it settled, going back to normal. "Did it work?" He asked slightly panicky and Hermione grinned up at him.

"Only one way to find out." She latched onto his lips again as he pulled her closer, her fingers tangling in his hair as his hands shoved her jacket from her shoulders.

This is what she fought for, she thought as she landed on her back, Sirius hovering above her.

Him. This. Them.

Forever.

* * *

When Hermione's eyes opened again after the room in St. Mungo's faded away, she was aware that she was in the Hospital Wing and she was slightly surprised to see that Sirius was sat next to her bed, his head and shoulders bowed as he leant against the mattress, lightly snoozing.

"What are you doing here?" She asked in surprise and Sirius sat up instantly, looking like a dog who just heard a dog whistle. He relaxed when he realised that he wasn't in danger and a small smile spread over his face when he saw that she was awake.

"Welcome back, Hermione." He said in relief and Hermione frowned at him in confusion…Before she didn't really believe his advances and was reluctant to take them because he married Hermione Kingsley but they were real and they got married and had kids and he knew and she loved him. He really did care for her and wasn't just being a playboy.

"It's good to be back," she said honestly, resting her hand over his. This was her life now and she'd seen her future. She could do this, she thought, but she'd need some help. "Wanna go out on a date?" She asked, knowing the answer. If it was possible, his smile spread even wider and he looked so triumphant.

"You know I do." He answered truthfully and Hermione smiled. He was attractive, smart, kind, caring…

It also helped that she had been attracted to him that moment she set eyes on him. Then she leaned over the side of the bed and was violently ill. Sirius chuckled and held her hair back, rubbing her back in soothing circles.

She was already falling in love with him.

Now she just had to get all the Horcruxes, find Regulus and Severus and defeat Voldemort.

Easy.

After all, she'd already done it before.

_A/N: And…That's it! I'm finished! I'm sorry it took me so long to get them up and my computer really is being a nuisance. So, let me know what you think about the sequeal of sorts and I hope you enjoy reading it! _

_Hope you had a great day!_

_Kelly_

_Xxx_

_P.S: In this chapter I have incorporated the name of some of my favourite reviewers and especially those who left encouraging reviews that kept me going and encouraged me to continue writing this very long story. _

_The Ultimate Reader_

_Sweet-Tang-Honey_

_Amrawo_

_Charlie Peach_

_Pocahontas-_

_Miss Cow_

_NotADreamYetNotANightmare_

_Projectrevolution20_

_Readerforlife_

_Isabel Black_

_CGinny_

_Dracoisalooker76_

_Dozy Dora_

_Getoffmycarousel_

_Avaline Malfoy_

_Firesspawn_

_It's Zabini not Zambini_

_Time Rose_

_Cupcake of Death_

_bib95_

_Brook-Lucas-Fan-23_

_Waterflower 20_

_Benny Kid_

_Becky Boo 12221_

_Dreaming while Awake_

_Misty Willow Black-Snape_

_If you have numbers at the end of your pen names, or dots in them or X's I haven't put them in the story, but the name itself is the same. _

_Thankyou guys so much for the support and help and guidance and praise – it has really helped me continue (and finish) the story. _

_I really do love you and I hope I can reply to the next round of reviews! Thankyou to all my other reviewers and they are appreciated just as much, but I wanted to give these guys something special. _


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